The Path of Ascension

After they left the rift, they teleported back to the city and purchased standard heals from the healers. The light from the healing spells washed over them, and all of Matt’s nicks and bruises disappeared, along with the deeper stab wound in his side. The cracked ribs were slower to heal, but each breath he took during the process was easier than the last.

They were back to full health, at the cost of a Tier 5 mana stone.

As they left, Matt turned to the disheveled Liz and asked, “How come you struggled so much with the boss?”

“Stupid thing had a mounted Concept. Or maybe it was cavalry. Either way, it was really hard to dismount it. While its ass was planted on that wanna be wolf each attack was stronger, faster, and more precise.”

“The records never said he had a Concept though.”

“Ugh. I know. New topic please.”

Matt moved the conversation along. “You ready to stop delving for the week? The rewards will be mediocre, and we’re already peak Tier 4. Essence wont do us any good.”

Matt felt at his now full spirit, and once again tried to push the essence into the physical side of his cultivation. It didn't budge. He was at the absolute peak for his current Tier. There was just no room left.

Liz simply shrugged in response, not saying anything else. They had already talked about it, but he wanted to make sure that she was alright with it. They walked to a hotel in relative quiet, and booked a room for the final remaining week on the training world.

They got a suite that mirrored their old one. It was another fully furnished room, as neither wanted to spend more time in their sleeping bags than necessary. It wasn't that much more for the extra amenities, and the comfort of a real bed couldn’t be overstated.

After a shower, they ambled down to a nearby restaurant and had a veritable feast. They were busy tearing into their food, when Liz finally spoke up.

“Ugh.” She leaned back and stretched, twitching at the apex. “I’m so ready to take a break from delving for a bit. Five delves a day really wears a girl down.”

Matt sipped at his drink. “Yeah, it was tough on me too. And I don't even run out of mana. I wanna pass out for the next week.”

Aster seemed content to sit in her booster chair and scarf down the half dozen roasted rabbits she had wanted. Matt decided to try the dish when they came back. It smelled delicious.

Though maybe I won’t get six of them.

“Any real plans for what we should do or where we should go when we leave? We’re pretty much stuck until I complete my image.”

Liz was lost in thought, just running her finger around the rim of her mug, and eventually shook her head. It was a long moment later that she yawned and said, “No idea. Right now, I need to sleep before I can think.”

The trio made their way to their suite. Matt was surprised to see Liz grab a blanket and turn the large screen on, instead of going to sleep like she had said during dinner. He decided to join her. The show she put on would help to clear his mind before they went to sleep.

Moments after Aster sprawled over their legs, Matt fell asleep.

***

Waking up, Matt found Liz slumped into him, and felt a crick in his back from bending the wrong way. He checked the time. He had been asleep for five hours.

Using his AI, he turned the screen off, and carried the mage to her bed. Going to his own room, he asked a sleepy Aster where she wanted to sleep. She looked from him to Liz’s room, before pattering after him.

They went back to sleep, and it was noon before they finally returned to the world of the living.

Peering out into the dark city, Matt was happy they would be going back to a planet with Empire standard time. He was tired of the sun not being where it should be during the day. It was afternoon according to his body, but the sun had just set a few hours ago. The longer than twenty-four-hour days were something he didn’t care for.

Matt found Liz sitting at the small table in the common room, with a mug of something steaming.

“Morning.”

All he got in response to his greeting was a grunt. They went and got breakfast, and this time, Matt was aware enough to notice that the city was packed. More teams were returning, having either reached the end of their Tier, or simply not wanting to push during the final stretch.

At this point, the rift rewards were abysmal with the essence having been rapidly drained over the last few months. It made Matt wonder about the rewards they could have gotten if they hadn’t delved the Tier 5 rift while it was running on fumes. He pushed the ‘what if’s’ out of his mind. They only could do it when they were able, not when they wanted.

Staring out the window of the restaurant, Matt watched as group after group passed by. They were like schools of fish, weaving and merging before they reached their destination, or took a turn to leave the pod they were moving with.

The odd patrol of guards were like monsters in the water. Each patrol was clearly visible, as they had a ring of clear space. No one wanted to be near the arbiters of justice if they could avoid it.

His idle musings were interrupted by the server coming over to ask if they needed anything else. It was the third time. Matt took the hint, and broke Liz from her own daydreams. There was a line waiting.

Checking his AI, he said, “Sorry Diana, well get out of your hair.”

Finally able to use his new AI feature, Matt walked out with a peep in his step, pleased at himself. It had taken a few days to work the bugs out, but he had finally gotten it to work at the little encampment. Now, he was able to get people’s names in nearly real-time.

It was worse than the prebuilt module that Liz had purchased with her AI, but it was good enough in the interim.

They returned to their suite, and Matt lazed with Liz on the couch. “You know, it’s a good thing I didn’t break into Tier 5.”

“Huh?”

“If I broke into Tier 5, I’d owe TrueMind a scan of my AI on the back end. So it’s kinda nice not to have that worry. I’ll just get to them when we leave this rock... Where should we go? We have time to burn before we need to hit Tier 5, and we’re only waiting on me.”

Liz yawned, saying, “Eh, we can just find a cheap place and take a vacation for a bit. We deserve the break. Aster and I are ready to break through at any time, but it’s better to do it all at the same time, I think.”

She stretched and then curled up, murmuring, “Wouldn’t feel right if we didn’t do it together.”

“That works for me. Anywhere you want to see? We could take the time to do a bit of sightseeing.”

Matt was intrigued at the idea of a vacation. He had never left his city before joining The Path, and could only imagine the views that the thousands of worlds in The Empire had to offer.

He didn’t get a response, and saw that Liz was nodding off. Her head was sinking down lower and lower before jerking back up. He got up and pulled one of her feet, getting her to lay down, and draped the blanket over her. He decided to let the girl take the nap she clearly needed.

He decided to head to the gym. It had been months of just breaking a sweat when exercising. Not actually pushing himself.

Each movement of the weights was smooth, the burn of muscles familiar and comforting. It was quite nice to see that he could get off his usual number of reps with more weight than before. He was still growing, and the accumulated essence in his physical cultivation had increased his strength even more. Each rep, he watched the weights defy gravity, and he slowly slipped into the mindlessness of his exercises.

He was watching his triceps flex in the wall-length mirror to check his form, when an explosion rocked the building.

Matt and everyone else started running. Most of the people around him were able to stay calm in the face of the unexpected incident. Some he saw were cowering in fear, with looks of panic across their faces.

Civilians.

Matt didn’t know what to think about them. He spent most of his time with people who delved rifts and fought monsters for a living. Pushing the noncombatants out of his mind, he ran to Liz and Aster. They were still in the suite.

When he reached the street the hotel was on, he was stopped by a mass of people staring into the sky. The crowd was so dense that it was impossible to move through them. Frustrated, he gave up his attempts at pushing through, and tried to follow their gaze. Then, he saw what was drawing their attention.

The Tier 25’s were fighting. Each blow was sending compressed waves of air smashing into the barrier. It was shaking and going opaque with each blow it absorbed.

Matt saw a figure in black, with circles of light glowing around each foot, dodging the woman suspended in the air on a leaf. They chased each other around through the skies, unleashing devastating blows at one another. The man, Driver, as Matt’s AI helpfully supplied, was shooting off dozens of blasts of what looked like pure mana.

The woman was wielding a greatsword that was as long as Matt was tall. Each swing sent crescents of flaming energy that burned so hot, Matt could hear the air sizzle during their passage.

They moved out of view, and Matt started shoving his way through the crowd again. Their room was higher up, and the girls were facing the action.

Several concussive blasts later, Matt finally reached the hotel and sprinted up the steps. Using [Mage’s Retreat], he quickly advanced through the stairwell and reached the suite.

As he ascended the stairs, he had his AI pull up as much information as he could on the Republican Tier 25. He found nothing, not even her name. Cursing the information blackout, he finished his climb.

Bursting in, he saw Liz with her face pressed against the window. His entrance got her attention. She looked at him and immediately threw him his backpack.

“To the roof, before everyone else thinks of the same.”

They reached the stairway to the roof, only to find the emergency door already open, and half a dozen groups already watching from the vantage point. Aster hopped onto his shoulder to get a better view and avoid getting trampled.

As they settled into a good spot, Matt found the fighting Tier 25s. They had flown higher, and were moving faster than before, unleashing even larger blasts of magic. Each blow from the woman covered the sky with fire so bright, Matt had to get his sunglasses out. On the other hand, Driver was unleashing an even more impressive array of mana bolts at the woman. Each bolt made craters in the surroundings, sending up showers of rock when they landed.

The woman seemed to be faster with her flying leaf, but Driver seemed to be more nimble with the two flying items on his ankles. With her speed, it was only a matter of time before she caught up to Driver. While he continuously dodged the physical swing of her greatsword, he was unable to dodge the blasts of fire that followed her strikes.

Matt half expected to see a crispy guilder fall from the sky. The gasps from the groups around him lent credence to that belief. Instead, they watched as the guilder appeared out of a pillar of flame, covered in a sphere of mana.

The protective shield expanded rapidly, and caught the now charging woman in the face, knocking her back. The sphere of energy expanded and pushed her further back, growing thinner and weaker as it increased in size.

The latest exchange only seemed to piss the fighting pair off even more, and they reengaged with renewed vigor, They flew higher, and unleashed even more power. They were quickly becoming specks in the sky. The only reliable indications of their positions were the now-massive attacks they let loose at one another.

Someone came up, shoving everyone out of their way. They had a massive screen, and propped it up on the far wall, before they hopped on top of the maintenance shed. With a few more shoves, they cleared the roof off and produced a telescope. With a flicker, they brought the fight back into view with the contraption.

It took a moment for the image to stabilize, and a few more for it to lock onto the Tier 25’s. But thanks to the man’s rude but generous methods, the crowd on the roof could once again see the fight.

The woman’s body was now either entirely made of flame or completely encompassed by it. Either way, she glowed with intense orange light, and sent out waves of burning mana at her opponent. She was like a new star in the night sky.

Matt felt each pump of his heart and, like everyone else, was recording each moment with his AI.

Driver had a staff in hand now, and it was starting to glow with a light tinged purple. The woman’s flames started to get darker in response. At first, Matt thought she was weakening, but he saw that the flames were actually turning black.

The woman exploded in a sphere of flame, like Driver had done earlier. He summoned his protective ball, and launched forward into the flames at breakneck speed. There was a shockwave that they all saw before they could hear it.

As it hit the city’s shielding, the shockwave shattered windows and forced the wards to glow brilliantly with the strain. The aftermath of the clash cut off the reception of the fight stream for a few brief moments.

When they could see again, they saw Driver summoning a wall of silver light that flew outwards and battered his charging opponent with a wave of his staff. She shattered the wall of light with a swing of her sword, but the distraction allowed Driver to flank her, and he unleashed a barrage of [Mana Bolts]. The sheer number of projectiles that the Tier 25 produced didn’t seem possible.

Matt was only able to see them because they were so numerous, they moved at blinding speeds. The woman didn’t seem phased by the bolts, and let them slam into her. She simply charged through them to reach her opponent, refusing to deviate from her aggressive fighting style. The bolts of mana didn’t detonate like Matt expected, but instead stuck to the woman while increasing in brightness.

Matt saw the woman hunch over, seemingly screaming in either pain or effort, while the dark flames surged to life. They consumed the woman, along with the bolts attached to her. The ball of black flame expanded in a puff, almost as if containing an explosion from the inside. But when the woman reappeared, she seemed completely unharmed. The disappointment on Driver’s face was obvious.

He tried to retreat, but the woman’s flying leaf was faster, and she quickly caught up to him. The tip of her massive sword glowed with a brightness that made even the screen hard to look at. The picture tried to adjust to the brightness, but the device just couldn’t keep up with the intensity of the light. It was so bright, the sky was as if it was high noon.

The guilder’s staff was glowing with a similar power. This time, with a blue so bright that it began to fade into white. The opposing blows landed in a clash of light, sound, and vibrations that seemed to shake the very planet. When the successive shockwaves ended, Matt saw the duo blown what seemed like miles away from each other. They were both still in one piece, but were enveloped in familiar looking armor.

He didn’t need his AI to tell him, they each had [Phantom Armor] active They both had used the skill to tank the other’s blows, while trying to end the fight with a massive finisher.

It was interesting to see their versions of the armor. Driver’s [Phantom Armor] was sleeker than Matt’s, more like an armored robe than Matt’s full plate. The Republican’s [Phantom Armor] was even bulkier than Matt’s. Her armor looked to be made from thick plates of overlapping opaque metal.

Both skills faded before Matt could get a better look.

I need to look up why [Phantom Armor] looks different for them. Is there something about the skill I don’t know? Can I get the skill to be better at different things if I change the appearance?

Now, both Tier 25’s summoned physical armor. The Republican was draped in sleek armor that had lines of flame running up and down the seams.

Driver had a glowing robe that looked quite similar to his [Phantom Armor]. There were obvious runes etched across the back and sleeves, giving off light of various colors. Matt was sure they would have multiple effects, mostly defensive.

They reengaged, with Driver trying to keep his distance while peppering the woman with the sticky bomb [Mana Bolts]. Every once in a while, he shot out a much larger [Mana Spear]. Each blast missed, but they slammed into the ground hard enough to shake the building that the trio was observing from.

This is real power. And people get even stronger than this.

Matt’s mind wandered as the telescope lost the fighting titans, and adjusted to find the fight again.

I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s nothing like the battles that movies show. This is real.

The fight was primal in a way. Each of the Tier 25s were only throwing out a few skills, but they were eons stronger than what a Tier 4 could do with the same skill.

If a Tier 4 used [Mana Bolt] and hit the ground, it would create a crater a foot wide at maximum. Driver’s [Mana Bolts] were leaving craters dozens of feet wide. His [Mana Spear] was leaving veritable tunnels in the ground, with its stronger penetrative power.

Matt also realized that the Tier 25s mostly relied on the same few skills, but used them in various ways. His AI wasn’t able to name most of the spells that the woman was using, but there seemed to be only three main combat skills. He suspected that one was [Flame Slash], another was her flame armor, and the third was the attack that charged the tip of her blade with power.

Driver used his [Mana Bolts] and [Mana Spear] mostly, along with that spherical shield that doubled as a knockback.

Is the secret to higher Tier combat just mastering a few skills?

Matt was sure that they didn’t only use those few skills, as each had shown that they could do more. Still, they seemed to really rely on those select few.

Maybe they’ve made those skills hyper-efficient?

The idea had merit, but he made a note to look up the information later. The fight was still raging on, and he didn’t want to miss it.

The two titans pushed each other away in an exchange of blows that sent a ripple of air out around them. The city’s shielding stopped most of the shockwave this time.

The combatants kept their distance from one another, and seemed to shout at each other with the way their armored forms gestured back and forth.

Then, the woman moved her massive greatsword behind her, parallel to the ground. The tip started glowing like a miniature sun.

Driver’s staff started to mirror the action, glowing with the blue of unaspected mana.

The screen whited out, and Matt looked up like the others around him. This was something to see with one’s own eyes.

There were now two new suns burning the sky, one a pale blue, the other intense orange. Waves of heat and energy surged outwards from each combatant. Matt was unable to see the humans wielding massive amounts of destructive power, but he watched as the twin suns rapidly closed the gap between each other.

When the blue and orange orbs collided, the world went silent for a moment. The entire planet seemed enveloped in intense white light. Then, the shock wave hit. The city’s shielding went opaque as it tried to stay active through the unfathomable amounts of damage it was absorbing. As the newborn sun faded away, the ground shook.

The quakes lasted so long, Matt was afraid that the titans had triggered an actual earthquake.

The shielding started leaking more and more light, until Matt was sure the Tier 25s’ final strike would kill all of the weaker cultivators in the cities.

They were miles away from us, and they’re nearly destroying the city. What would it be like to take the hits that they are? How do they even survive that kind of power?

Liz stumbled into Matt, and the two of them tried to keep their feet against the wild shaking of the building.

Liz cursed. “These fucking idiots. What could have made them fight so hard?”

Matt didn’t have an answer, but the shaking soon stopped. He looked around, and saw that most of the surrounding buildings had their windows blown out. A few were even leaning precariously, ready to collapse at any second.

The battle between forces of nature ended with the duo seemingly unharmed. They separated, and returned to their respective cities.

Driver flew down, and now that he was closer, it was apparent that the man was singed from head to toe. At least his clothes were. His skin looked fine for the most part, despite the numerous times he had been bathed in the Republican’s fire. At some point, he had removed his armor, and was only wearing the robes he had started the fight with.

The Tier 25 hovered in the air, and said in a voice so loud, Matt was sure the people inside buildings could hear him,“The Republic has gone too far.”

The proclamation rumbled in Matt’s chest.

There were murmurs of chatter from the packed crowd on the roof, but the Tier 25 spoke over everyone.

“Tomorrow, we fight.”

More murmuring. The crowds may have been wowed by the fight, but most weren’t enthusiastic about the prospect of a war being started.

“All guild members will be expected to fight.”

The murmuring turned to cries of exasperation from those in guild colors.

Driver spoke up and silenced everyone. It was like they were being pressed down by the very mountains themselves. “The fight will be open to anyone. Those who participate and do well shall receive a Tier 8 skill from my personal collection. The guild will protect everyone’s life, and performance will be judged by the AI’s. We must show our strength.”

The guilder floating in the air clenched his fist, and growled out, “We cannot let them trample The Empire like this!”

That was suspiciously vague. So much so, that Matt didn’t quite feel comfortable with the idea. He could sense bullshit when he was presented with it.

Skill shards...

Skill shards...

His mind repeatedly whispered about the potentially significant boost in power if he participated. He was positive that he could put on a good showing with his peak Tier 4 power and half a Concept. It would be hard not to do well enough to get a skill.

Matt looked through his AI, and found that the LocalNet now had an information dossier, as well as a signup roster for the battle.

He checked the rewards registry, and saw hundreds of Tier 8 skills. There were a number of useful skills for all three of them.

Matt looked at Liz, and they silently communicated. They had enough shared experiences, they didn't need to speak out loud.

He signed them up for the battle.

Opportunity came with danger after all. That was the most fundamental rule of delvers.

The masses turned, and started heading down the stairs. Matt’s team followed, returning to their suite, only to find the windows shattered. They shut their door, and sat together on the couch.

“What do you think set them off?” Matt asked, but didn’t think Liz would know either.

“No clue, but they each went all out at the end there. This is trouble.”

Matt chewed on her words, and asked about the worst-case scenario. “This won’t start a true war will it?”

Liz looked up, as if she was still watching the clash between Tier 25s. “No, I don’t think so. True wars are hard to start, and even harder to end. At worst, this is a battle to decide on a treasure or something. I can’t think of anything that would set the two Tier 25s off like this. Driver’s spending a fortune to pay for the skills he promised.”

Matt interjected, “A Tier 25 should have a ton of Tier 8 skills. It’d be like pocket change to him.”

“Sure, but he could sell that to his guild and strengthen them, or sell them on the open market. Most don’t keep that many skill shards on them. This smells fishy as hell.” Liz pursed her lips, and started fiddling with her braided hair.

Aster felt left out, and yipped at the two.

Matt idly reached down and scratched the little fox. There were risks involved, but the skill shards... If they could get three new skills, it would be a huge step up in their power.

He caught Liz’s eyes and asked, “Fishy enough that we shouldn’t do it?”

Liz pressed her hands together tightly and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she replied, “No. Not that bad. It should be safe enough for us. Whatever game Driver’s playing, it shouldn’t affect us.”

They went their separate ways after that. Matt wanted to sit and think about what he had seen.

The fight between the Tier 25s gave him insights into his own style of combat. They might not be endless, but they had power.

That was something he wanted. No, something he needed.

Matt pushed into the area in his spirit that his Concept would reside. With a thought, he created the image of the bubbling spring, water rising to the ground with burbles.

With a thought, he erased that image. It was too small. It was the correct shape, and fit the hole in his core, but it would be like building on top of a single brick, not a foundation.

With effort, Matt built the image of a sun, hot and burning. He started with a dull red, the coldest of stars. The image was like an egg, thin and weak compared to the brick that was the image of the spring.

He changed the image to one of an orange star, hotter. The image felt better, but was even thinner, and harder to create.

Matt worked his way up to a white star, second hottest. This image was like cloth, stretched so thin that it was see through.

Finally, with a mental effort, Matt changed the star’s color to blue, the hottest star. This image burned with energy. In nature, they burned themselves out quickly, and had short life spans compared to the other celestial bodies. But Matt felt that he could change the image enough to make it work.

This image, even while so poorly formed, had more power than the rest of the images combined. It burned bright with power. This was truly a base that he could use to build a power that would shock the world.

Matt could see it now. Each of his blows would burn away all the opposition. The Republican Tier 25 was a convincing picture of what that power could look like.

It’d be a shame to be fire, with Aster being ice. But this has been the strongest image that’s resonated with me so far. I get the feeling that most of the effect would be internal anyway. Some type of inner fire. More metaphoric than literal.

Matt spent the next few hours building the image of the Concept in his mind. He started by firming the red sun, and would build each new star from the experience gained from building the last.

He was drained from the mental exercises, and got up to walk around. He noticed that Liz had sat next to him at some point while he was lost in his training. She seemed to be working on her own image. He decided to leave her to it, and left to walk around the city.

As he wandered, he used the mana control ball that Eric had given him so long ago at Benny’s. It twirled around his hand and swirled between his fingers in a complicated pattern.

Continuing his aimless wandering, he started to overhear conversations about the fight. He lingered around to hear a few of the interesting ones, but none of them pertained to anything he and Liz hadn’t already thought of.

One conversation caught his attention. “I heard that Driver and the Republic leader both found something at the same time. That’s why they started the fight.”

The man who said it had a weasley look about him, and the woman he was talking to voiced exactly what Matt was thinking.

“What do you know? Where did you hear that? It sounds more like speculation rather than any kind of fact.”

The man responded, “No, really. My brother is in the guild’s guard force. He knows things.”

Matt listened a bit more, but the man seemed to be trying to impress the girl, rather than provide useful information. After a few more moments, he moved on.

The best, and what he figured was the most accurate reasoning, was that they simply had pissed each other off. When they couldn’t beat each other, they decided to use their juniors to do battle in their stead.

It wasn’t a great answer, but why else would Tier 25s fight on a Tier 5 planet?

Returning to their room, he found that Liz had already returned. They both tried to get a good night’s sleep, but the anticipation for tomorrow’s fight was building.

From their room, they could see that the area next to the artificial lake was being fitted with large towers, forming a large perimeter. There were tents filling in the spaces in the sides, with guild standards being set up.

Both sides were not sparing anything to get a battlefield set up.

How many people are going to fight? That’s a two-by-one-mile rectangle. If that’s full, that’s a lot of people fighting.

Watching the structures go up, Matt tried to plan a strategy for the upcoming fight.

Risk may be paired with danger but he could mitigate that substantially with proper planning.