The Path of Ascension

Matt's return had been amazing. He might have failed in his surprise arrival, but he spent good quality time with Liz and Aster that night. When they returned to real space, he had even gotten a reply message from Dena and Eric. They had questioned his rapid rise to Tier 8 in an unheard-of amount of time.

It had been touching to see them worry about him having gotten himself into trouble. Them being willing to extract him from said trouble gave him a warm feeling, and he wanted to put their fears to rest.

Having seen that this reply message to his quietly hinting at his Talent was weeks old, there was no rush to get another message out to them. He intended to respond while they were traveling with Luna, and would enlist Liz’s help to craft a message if they hadn't understood.

His good mood was ruined when Liz said, “We don't need to leave The Path. Either of us.”

Liz’s words echoed through Matt's mind like the persistent shaking and silence-shattering bang of a gong.

It just didn’t make any sense. They’d talked about it. Matt would need every bit of mana concentration he could get.

Seeing his confusion, Liz started explaining, “Luna is overstating the mana concentration problem.”

Hearing their trainer scoff, Liz forged on and asked, “You know the increase in effective power from mana concentration is a log10 correct?”

Matt nodded. He had looked it up before, but with a base value of 1 mana concentration, he would be quickly outclassed in mana power, which was the problem.

Seeing him nod, Liz continued. “That means your strength doubles when you go from 1.00 mana concentration to 10.00. That's three times stronger from one to one hundred; so on and so forth. Do you know what that means?”

Matt nodded slowly. “Yes… it means that I need every bit of mana concentration I can get.”

Liz looked happy that he was hearing her out, and blurted out, “Yes! That's all I thought about as well.” She looked at Luna and gave the woman a dirty look. “Luna only gave us half the picture, though. I've been working on making better mana concentration potions for you, but that got me into the actual math of mana concentration, and the potions that affect it the same.”

Matt felt his chest loosen slightly at that information. Liz was always looking out for his best interest, including taking her training time to try and create all-new potions, just for him. It was just more evidence that she loved him.

Liz looked to Luna, probably expecting her to say something, but when their manager didn’t stop her, Liz forged on. “The Tier 32 potions you're using from Aunt Helen are meant for Tier 32’s.” Seeming to try and inject some levity, she said with a half-grin, “Surprising, I know. These are rough estimates based on what I could find, but when a Tier 32 uses one, they’ll lose about 900,000 mana, which is about 10% of their total mana at that Tier. In return, they get around 90,000 mana concentration, and their limits for mana regeneration and max mana go up a ton.”

Matt felt Aster perk up at that from her place on the couch, and he responded in kind. None of this sounded like a reason that he needed less than all the mana concentration he could get.

Seeing that he was still following along, Liz went in for her killing argument. “Mana concentration is obtained from sacrificing mana. It's not a one for one, or even a hard value for value, but we can assume that for every ten mana lost, you gain ‘one’ concentration. That's why you only got about 14 mana concentration from the last potion. You don't have enough to sacrifice. When you have millions, 1 or 2 mana concentration will mean nothing.”

She watched his eyes as he processed what she was implying, and his own mind raced. He hadn’t thought of that. Luna had said that mana concentration mattered, and after checking that mages in the higher Tiers could hit millions, he had agreed with the assessment and resigned himself to leaving The Path.

It was like his old swords. He was attached to them for what they had done for him, keeping him alive and allowing him to fight, but he wouldn't use one after he had outgrown it. That was stupid, and he applied the same logic to The Path.

But The Path had more sentimentality for him. It had given him his current place in life, led him to meet his friends, and helped him become someone that others could look up to. Matt didn’t think he would be the person he was today without The Path.

Liz then added, “Matt, if you can get to 100,000 mana concentration, your mana will only be one third weaker than a mage with 100,000,000 mana concentration, as they will only have 50% more mana density than you. That's the same gap that a normal melee fighter will have. The next ten Tiers will mean nothing when you have millions of mana. And you won't only have 100,000 mana concentration. You'll get far more than that, even if you never catch up to us normal mages.”

Luna finally interjected, “The next Tiers matter less than the teens, but they still matter. Why leave any power on the table? That’s the height of folly and foolishness.”

Matt took a deep breath as he processed everything, and used his own AI to run the numbers, following the logic that Liz had brought up. His confusion and resignation at his predicament slowly churned in his mind, until he had a better idea of the situation.

Matt looked at Luna and narrowed his eyes as he asked, “Is that true?”

Luna looked unashamed as she said, “If you are willing to settle for mediocrity, yes. You can do more than that, Matthew. You can be the perfect mage, and the perfect warrior. You can earn a few hundred mana concentration before you hit Tier 19, and then we can really get you a lot of it. Despite Liz’s impassioned speech, that isn't nothing. It would be like taking a dull sword versus a sharpened sword into a fight. Certainly they’re both useful, but which would you rather have?”

He shook his head. It wasn't surprising that Luna had let him believe the difference was so large but the difference wasn't a sharp sword vs an unsharpened one. It was more than the difference between a club and a mace. They could both do the same job but one was sturdier than the other.

Without bothering to mask his annoyance Matt replied, “And you would have let me fall off The Path for something a single potion would make irrelevant in a few Tiers?”

Luna met his glare and calmly responded, “No. I would have you not suffer at all. You need the best. You’ll need higher Tier potions to keep hitting zero. Think, Matt. At Tier 15, you’ll be almost perfectly using a Tier 32 mana concentration potion. What about after that? Will you leave power on the table? You wouldn't have lost anything of value by leaving, and you would have gained even more of my support. Better trainers and items would be the least of what I could provide. No limits to the Tier 35’s who can fight in the wars. I don't see any issues here.”

He tried to remain logical and think it through. Luna was a perfectionist, and he could see her obsessing over a fraction of a percent of power.

Liz must have seen something on his face and added, “That's entirely true, Matt. I'm not trying to lie to you. If we need to leave The Path, I will. But we don't.”

He knew she was serious, and nodded.

His partner turned to Luna and said, “I assume you have something in mind.”

“Yes, I —”

Matt shook his head and interrupted as a second answer came to him. “Wait, wait, wait. All this talk of potions got me thinking. Where are my rewards for creating three new skills for The Empire? Okay, one of which is useless, I’ll give you that. But the second one is fairly valuable, and the third is downright priceless. And then creating rifts for [Bandage] and [Endurance] out on the frontier. And even the basic research on rifts. I should get a portion of credit, even if most of it goes to Erwin. That should be enough to get me anything I need.”

Liz turned and joined Matt in his questioning glance to Luna. Aster yowled slightly, adding her own voice. They were a united front against Luna.

Luna just sighed. “What can you give for something priceless that must also be hidden? Any official rewards must be able to clear the fact check of an AI. That makes it incredibly difficult with your past rewards from the dragon blood rift. Too much luck and corresponding rewards will still flag the AIs about outside help, let along creating new priceless rifts. And you are already pushing that limit. If there are any discrepancies, the other Great Powers could use that to make a smear campaign. It wouldn't lower the combat prowess of the fighter, but it would ruin the entire Empire’s prestige. That matters more than you know.”

Matt was about to say something to rebut that, but Luna talked faster. “No one is disputing your efforts, Matthew. But for now, things must be kept quiet. I do know that your reward for reaching Tier 10 will be increased to accommodate that lack. I told you, if you beat the Tier 9 rift, I would help you push all the way. I'm not your enemy. I applied and got approved for another three Tier 32 mana concentration potions. Anything else will have to wait until you leave The Path. If you want more after that, you need to reach Tier 15, and so forth.”

Luna was crazy, but she had honored her deal. Matt could admit that, but he was still upset as his mind raced through everything with a new perspective.

Rubbing his face, he asked, “After Tier 19, what do we do when my mana increases further? I do see the problem, but I don't know enough.” He looked to Liz and asked, “What about your potion stuff?”

He wanted to be more grateful for her even trying, but he didn’t have the time to properly appreciate her help, so he just made an AI note to thank her later.

Liz shook her head, but Luna spoke first. “That isn't practical. Our best bet is to use Erwin and his Talent for Tiering things up. The problem is, you need to be able to afford a Tier 32’s services. At market rate.”

Matt mentally winced, knowing how valuable that was.

Luna didn’t pause. “Even then, that's only a stop-gap measure. I don't even think theoretical Tier 50 potions will work on you past Tier 25. I have other ideas, but none as promising. Alchemy has a chance of working, but we'll see. It might come down to you making specialized rifts to find herbs or something. I believe the Emperor will be working on the same problem from an imperial standpoint. We can only… hope to see what may come.”

Matt started pacing as he worked out his thoughts, “So the Emperor will get me the best potions he can get, but I’ll lose out on some potential mana concentration if we stay on. Even if we don't, there are no potions that can reduce mana by the trillions. I just need enough to stay relevant.”

He nodded to himself, as that seemed to jive with everything that both women had said.

“You're our trainer. You're meant to help us. Not give me half information for a few percentage points now, that only add a fraction to the big picture later.”

He shot Luna a look that he hoped conveyed his irritation.

Luna nodded slowly and caught his eyes. “I truly believe that any loss in potential isn’t worth staying on the Path for. You want math and hard numbers; you shall have them. I still think you’ll need to step off The Path after Tier 20 to avoid falling behind, unless we discover some other way to increase your mana concentration. Even you can see that math. Don’t forget that staying unnoticed is important for your safety.”

Matt felt like a toy that two children wanted, while each held an arm and tugged at it. It wasn't Luna versus Liz. It was everyone else versus him and his wants and desires.

He heard the warning in that last sentence, but he didn't like it.

That left them all quietly contemplative. Looking to Liz, he could see that she didn’t have an answer for that particular problem. She had no issue in leaving The Path if he needed her to do so. He had never doubted her sincerity. He just didn’t want to force her to. He had never wanted to leave The Path; it was a symbol of protection for every scared young orphan in the Empire. And now, he might not need to. Him having even 100,000 mana concentration was one percent of a true mage’s raw mana concentration, but it would make him only half as weak in spell power.

He also knew that a fight wasn't purely decided on how hard one hit. Otherwise, there would be no top-level combatants who were melee fighters. How well you fought and could read a battlefield was infinitely more important than just raw power. And Matt would have more mana than any mage. He would not only be physically stronger, he would be faster, and would have a greater variety of skills to use in a fight.

Melee fighters usually used fewer skills, but further customized them to increase their mastery, thus increasing their damage.

Matt could do that, but he would also have all the options that a mage would in a fight, while also having an unlimited number of skills that he could cast.

Looking at the numbers again, he shook his head.

Even at the worst yields that he could get from mana concentration potions, he expected his mana to be seventy percent as strong as a mage.

Matt shook his head again. He wanted to stay, and said so.

The dark-haired woman shrugged at all three of them and their weird looks that bordered on mutinous. “It was the best option to keep you two under the radar while maintaining the level of challenge that you’ll need to further advance.”

Luna’s grin grew dark. “In the meantime, I have other ideas for training.”

Aster’s hackles rose from where she sat, and Liz looked uncomfortable, but Matt was only half paying attention after her second mention of hiding. That was a bigger issue that he couldn't easily ignore.

The woman's look was evil. “How do you deal with higher Tier people wanting to dictate your life?”

It seemed to take Liz a moment to comprehend what the woman was getting at, but she answered quickly. “There isn't much anyone can do. The power difference in Tiers is just too large to fight back.” Liz must not have thought the question was that simple, and added as she thought, “If you don't have a backing, you need to be strong yourself. There are laws, but they can only do so much.”

Luna then turned without speaking to Matt.

Matt half answered as he thought, “Hide?” The way he said it was more of a question than a statement, but Luna just turned to Aster.

The fox whined slightly before saying. “Nothing?”

Luna sighed. “Correct. Or close enough. You need power or influence to survive people stronger than yourself. But if your value is too high, you draw a target on your back. Matt will be exposed, and probably captured if we don't play this carefully. Staying lowkey is our greatest strength. Now, the best way to prevent that is to not be noticed. I intend for us to do that, but to succeed, we need to play things properly. In the meantime, no more rift creation. We’ll also be training more with noncombat topics.”

A series of messages started to ping Matt’s AI.

Ignoring the fact that she used her hated AI, Luna said, “I sent you information packets. You can decide what you want to do, but first, I want you two to learn how to blend in. I’ll be training you on urban stealth and assassinations to start. I want you to be able to break into secure areas and steal something, or kill someone. I hope you'll get good enough that you can stop any such attempts on your own lives.”

As Matt skimmed through the list of other topics, Liz paused and asked, “Why are you adding more cultivator versus cultivator training?”

Luna once again looked tired and asked, “Is there any way I can convince any of you three to not fight in the upcoming wars?”

Matt flinched hard enough that he felt Aster respond. It was like a boulder had been thrown into his own turbulent thoughts.

Liz slowly said, “I wanted to say that I wouldn't, but as the thought settled, I rejected it. If there is going to be a war where The Empire was being attacked because other Great Powers were jealous, I can’t sit by and do nothing. What good is strength if not used to protect what I value? The Empire is my home. So how can I let others risk themselves and do nothing myself? No, I can't do that.”

Liz was noble, but that wasn't where Matt’s thoughts had gone.

Luna just sighed. “These wars last for, at minimum, decades, and usually drag on for centuries. Don't be in a rush. But I didn’t expect you three to be willing to sit out. It's also good training for you all. Fighting only matters more as you Tier up.”

Seeing something on their faces, Luna barked, “But don't think I'm going to let you three go into any fight without proper preparation. The real wars aren't a game, and even I can't save you if you choose to fight. Although I will try to talk you out of it, I’ll still prepare for that eventuality.”

Luna looked at Matt and caught his eyes. “I don't have any proof, but I’d bet all my money that higher Tier people who will remain nameless won't want you on the front lines.”

Matt flinched at the mention of him being put in a box. “That's bullshit! No. How is that fair? Why can’t I help defend the Empire? War is approaching, and it's not going to be an even fight between two Great Powers. Everything you’ve said suggests that we’ll basically be getting ganged up on.”

That comment struck far too close to his own thoughts on the subject.

He started pacing again, and his anger bled over to Aster once more, putting her on edge.

Matt shook his head as Luna said, “I'm sure that they’ll say something like, ‘you're more valuable in the back lines. Even while hiding your Talent, there is a lot you can do to power things quietly’.”

“I don't like that. It feels too close to being merely a battery. It feels too passive, like waiting for others to do all the work.”

Luna scoffed, “Be grateful that Emmanuel isn't his father. If the old Emperor was still here, you would already be in that box you so desperately fear. Without a doubt. Georgios was far more pragmatic than his son. He would have imprisoned you for the greater good the second that your Talent was fixed. For the greater good, and your own protection. A warship's battery is put behind all the armor, after all. You would have been well treated, but you would have never been afforded any measure of freedom. But I don’t know Emmanuel that well.”

Liz nearly shouted, “Uncle Manny wouldn't do that!”

Luna raised a hand to quell her coming tyrade. “I like the man too, for all he’s done for the Empire as it is. I respect him and his word.” She then shrugged a single shoulder. “Still, I don't know the man well enough to confirm that he wouldn’t be of a similar mindset to his father’s, considering the abundance that sits on The Path. It’s right here, not ten feet from me.”

Matt felt like a toy once again, being too weak to decide anything for himself. If someone else found out about his Talent, he would be shoved in a box. If the Emperor was kind, he would be allowed some freedom, but he would still be a prisoner. If another Great Power found out about it, war would surely follow, which would lead to countless deaths.

It was different when he chose to give mana, but when that choice was taken from him, it would poison the well.

If he wasn't strong enough, he would ultimately become a captive in his own home.

He needed to be strong enough to refuse on his own merits.

He was being stifled and repressed.

It was suffocating.

He was not being endless. He needed others’ protection just to train, and avoid being abducted. His very existence was the temptation of a lifetime and beyond.

Needing to let out the fear of the unknown, Matt punched out at the air with that thought, lashing out at the hopelessness that threatened to drown him. He realized that all roads could ceaselessly lead to someone more powerful or well off putting him in a hole somewhere, forcing him to power their own will and machinations.

It was like a wet blanket had been draped over the room, and then tightened. Space itself locked down, aligning with the air that reacted to Matt's anger.

At the edge of his vision, he could see what looked to be heat waves rippling. Liz and Aster looked stifled, but Luna seemed unbothered.

That was just another reminder that he was weak.

If he was weak, he could have no agency. Matt would not be a toy for others to use and discard when they were done. He would not be taken out of the box to be played with, then returned for, ‘his own protection’.

Matt was no one's prize; he was no one’s endless battery.

He turned to Luna and growled, “I will not be a tool to be used.” The edges of his vision flickered with that same heat that he’d barely registered earlier. “Not by my enemies, nor by my well-intentioned allies. I refuse both the iron cell and the golden cage. I am more than a means to an end.”

Luna was unbothered by Matt's Concept, and just smiled in a way that he could only interpret as a cat whose prey had moved exactly where they had wanted it to. It made him wary.

“Matthew, I know you don't agree with me wanting you off The Path. But besides that, have I ever let you give me anything but your all? Have I ever accepted anything but your best? Have I not pushed you to be strong? Ask yourself, why? Why not keep you weak and pampered?”

Matt's flash of anger waned, and the force of his Concept slipped away as he slowly puzzled it out. “You expected this, and you don't like it either. That's why you want me strong. So I can break out of any cage.”

He honestly hadn’t expected that. Luna had seen farther than he had, and had already tried to plan for it. She had her own ideas about what was best for him, but she didn’t want him to be weak.

He figured that all of her insistence on strength was due to her obsession with perfection and efficiency. That could still be the majority of her motive, but Matt now knew that there was more behind her machinations.

Luna paced around him. “Yes, Matt. Exactly. I don’t like the idea of your potential being wasted any more than you want to become a mana slave. I also don't think The Emperor will force you into becoming one, but you’re going to need to prove that you won't die in the first fight, if you wish to move with impunity. No one will allow you to risk your life for something as foolish as pride. You need to prove that you’re a beast too rabid and strong to cage. I want you to be strong. We agree on the end result. We just disagree on the best path to get you there.”

As he listened to Luna's impassioned speech, he reviewed all of her actions so far. At least, with the persona she had displayed, her wanting him off The Path made sense.

He didn't think that she was lying to him now. If he understood her properly, and he thought he did, she wouldn't even consider letting a millionth of a percent of power be wasted. So explaining the actual math never occurred to her.

Matt thought for a moment longer, then stuck out his hand to shake. He might not agree with everything Luna wanted, but he truly believed that she wanted what was best for his combat prowess. And right now, he needed that kind of support more than ever.

“To keeping me out of a box.” He was still fuming, but managed to crack a joke.

Luna nodded and grasped his wrist. “We have long to go if we’re to accomplish that, Matthew. Which means training. Go sit down.”

After he had sat down and took Liz’s hand, Luna gestured off to the side, and a hidden screen was revealed as a panel of the wall moved. A planet was displayed, accompanied with various statistics.

“First thing I want you three to do is infiltrate a high society gathering for youths of the nobles and influential guild leaders. Your mission will be to find out as much as possible about each noble house. For further missions, you will be using the information you gather to do other things, like steal or assassinate designated targets.”

Seeing Matt's hesitation, Luna rolled her eyes. “It will be Kurt or me acting as the target for most of them. If I want to have you really kill someone, I would need to have you register with one of the assassin guilds, and we aren't going to do that. Maybe I'll have you put a letter in someone's pocket or something. We'll see.”

Besides that, Matt noticed a plethora of other lessons, such as multilateral thinking, weapons training with masters, foreign language training, and crafting training for the skills they did use.

It seemed like Luna wanted have them to learn everything in the next dozen years.

Liz dug her fingers into Aster’s fur and entwined her other hand with Matt’s.

He took a lot of comfort from that.

They were a team.

When Luna finally left, Matt turned and hugged Liz and Aster.

“Thanks for letting me know.”

Liz hugged him back. “We're a team.”

Aster wiggled in between them and pushed hugs to them both.

It was nice to have them on his side.

He jokingly wondered if Luna gave snuggles in cat form.

They went to sleep early that night after a quiet dinner.

He showed them around their suite in the ship, but none of them had the energy to enjoy it. They were too tired from the emotionally charged day, and called it an early night.

When they woke the next morning, Matt recognized a feeling in the air from his travels with Luna. She would be coming to brief him on training today. If she kept to the same pattern as she had on the last trip, she would come right after he ate breakfast. He had no idea if she was actually doing something, but he could always tell.

So as he cooked, he filled in Liz and Aster. “So my Sponsors finally got back to me.”

“Oh?” Liz set the pad she was tapping at off to the side and asked as she sat at the table.

“Yeah. They were worried that I had gotten myself into trouble and was cheating somehow, with how fast my speed of advancement had been.”

Aster chuffed, and Liz snickered.

“What did you say?”

“I just said my Talent was good for something after all. I only got the reply message when I was back in real space, so I didn’t have any time to respond. I haven't even read it yet honestly.”

As he put down breakfast for them, he projected the message to the pad Liz had been using, and they watched the video.

Dena was sitting to the right and Eric to the left.

They waved, and Eric said, “Hey Matt. We're pretty sure we understood your message and the implied logic behind it. I suspect you have a management team yourself.”

Dena rolled her eyes and said, “Honestly, if we’re at all close on our guess for what it is, we could use your Talent ourselves. We're slamming our heads against a wall at Tier 24 rifts. Delving three up isn't easy, as I'm sure you're aware of, or will soon find out.”

She waggled her arm. “Lost my entire right side in the last delve, so we're back on a healing cooldown. Same reason we were able to go scout you back then, if we’re being honest.”

Eric nodded. “Ugh, yeah. Had a monster chew off my arms, which is why I was working on my mana control. Might as well use a healing cooldown for something useful, you know. If I had better control, I might not have lost my shield spell.”

They chatted about the random things they had been up to in the last few years for half an hour while Matt chuckled and listened along.

The duo weren’t a substitute for his parents. He didn't know them nearly that well, but they were like older friends, or a distant aunt and uncle he could trust and look up to.

They had helped him so much, even if they had just been randomly asked by a planetary AI to investigate him. They had still said yes, and were kind to him when he needed it most.

He wouldn't forget that.

“Anyways, Matt. We want to get your manager to coordinate with our manager so we can be sure to be at your Tier 10 tournament. We're getting close to falling off The Path, and we will have to do something after that, but we want to make sure that we can see you compete. We came in second place during our year.” Eric seemed almost wistful as he reminisced.

Dena nodded. “When you make it as far as we do on The Path, there are a ton of opportunities that open up for you. We're joining the army for the next few centuries to help—” Matt didn’t miss Eric's shift subtly, and Dena seemed to change what she was going to say. “With whatever they need us to do. We’ll probably be cleaning toilets or something.”

They laughed it off, and if Matt hadn’t been keenly aware of the upcoming war, he would have missed their meaning.

Dena wanted to tell Matt that they were going to fight in the war, but Eric had warned her off, and she had agreed.

Remembering their first message that you could never be sure you weren't being watched, unless you were in a rift, had a new meaning. Especially after he had spent so much time with his own management team.

As if to prove his point, Luna walked in and said, “I'll let their manager know. Dena and Eric… Hmm. They implied that they're fighting up three Tiers to Tier 24 rifts at Tier 21. That's impressive. Even if they’re getting wounded, they aren't dying outright. They're going to be folded into the special operations section of the army.”

Seeing that they didn’t understand, Luna smirked and explained. “The special operations section of the army does exactly what the name implies. Special things. Actually, Kurt can explain this better. He was a part of them.”

She turned to the side, and Kurt appeared, standing next to her.

He quickly wrote, “I was there for my second contract. And yes, I believe any Pather who makes it that far, with that strength, will be selected to that section. I worked with plenty of people like them. The whole point of the section is to solve or create problems for the enemies. We went behind enemy lines, or we reinforced our own side when we were getting hammered. If they aren't exaggerating their power, they're top Pathers, so they’ll do fine. But we’ll need to let them know when the tournament is if they wish to go. The training for that position takes a decade, and then the missions can take far longer, depending...”

His pen trailed off as he wrote, then scratched out, “And with the war...”

Kurt stuck up his thumb as his board wrote, “I know people in the command structure. Worry not. They should be able to show.”

As Matt thanked the older trainer, Luna waived off the problem. “It doesn't matter. We have things to do. Matt, you know what you did yesterday?”

He was worried that she was mad about him yelling and cursing at her, but her next words put him at ease. “You locked down space. And quite well. That's the second time you've done it without knowing. And you're pretty good at it. We just need to get you to do so consciously.”

“The second time? When did I—”

Luna waved for silence. “When you fought that Talous boy. Now, I need you to focus. We only have a week of travel, and I'll be damned if you take that long to figure it out.”