The Path of Ascension

Liz waved and called back, "Travis! I hate you! Why’d you make us hike all the way out here?"

The redheaded man sipped at his cup, and paused long enough for Liz to open her mouth to shout again.

"Really? I’m sorry, I just really wanted to fuck with you."

Liz's ensuing tirade seemed to be exactly the reaction he was looking for, as he sipped at his drink with a wide grin.

They all watched Liz rage at her brother for a minute, then Travis turned slightly to Matt and said, "Hey Matt. I'm Travis. I'll let you and Aster in. Let me get to the front entrance."

With that, the man walked back into the room behind him. Matt took the time to examine the house closer. It looked like a fairly standard three-story house, one that could be plopped down in any neighborhood and be inconspicuous.

Any nice neighborhood, Matt corrected himself. The white exterior was some textured finish. Each visible window had a flower pot hanging off the edge. The oddest part of the house was its bottom floor and foundation. The foundation was about three feet thick, and Matt had to assume that whatever runes or enchantments kept the building aloft were embedded into the slab of concrete.

The area surrounding the house was small, but there were patches of grass that had small pavers building a walkway. All of that was surrounded by a brick wall with a single gate.

Overall it was a nice house. But something was wrong. Matt wasn't sure what it was, but something seemed off.

Travis came down and exited the house, and Matt saw that he was in swooshy pajamas and wearing slippers. He had clearly been relaxing all day.

The house crept closer to the ledge where Aster, Liz, and Matt stood. When it was five feet away from the ledge, there was a flash of light, and mana condensed into a platform that bridged the gap.

Liz hopped on immediately, but Matt had to test the structure first. It was the most mundane waste of mana he had ever seen. It was at least two inches thick, and three feet across. At five feet long, that was a lot of mana.

They reached the now open gate, and Liz threw herself into her brother's arms and reached up, calling out, "Feather!"

Her brother, unlike her Aunt, scoffed at her. Travis flicked the feather still braided in her hair and said, "Yeah, I see you still have Aunt Helen’s. You're not getting one of mine. And it was only a month or so of travel. How many times did you sleep in it for the magic to be gone already?"

Liz kicked at a paver at her feet with a bad whistle.

Travis looked smug and then acknowledged Matt. "Hey, sorry about that. Like I said, my name’s Travis, the youngest son. Elder brother to this one."

He put his hand out to shake, and Matt returned the grip.

Travis then squatted and introduced himself to Aster, which immediately put him in Matt's good graces.

Matt looked around and realized what was so wrong earlier. The inside of the area was at least twice as large as it looked from the outside. He was shocked once the reason became clear. The area was spatially compressed.

A second man came out from around the back, with a platter of shish kebabs on his arm. He was clean shaven and deeply tanned. He called out as he saw Liz, "Hey, BethBeth!"

The reaction wasn't the explosion Matt expected. Liz just hugged him and stole a stick of meat and veggies.

The man passed off the tray to Travis and introduced himself. "I'm Keith. Matt, right?"

Their shake was harder. Matt assumed that this man was a melee fighter, from the callouses and his overall build.

Liz hopped on Keith's shoulders while he introduced himself to Aster.

"Favorite brother in law GO GO GO!"

Keith didn't seem phased, and simply stood and continued the conversation, "So I hear you are a longsword user! And a pretty good one at that. We’ll have to spar a bit."

His grin was casual, but friendly. He wasn't trying to establish dominance or anything. He just wanted to spar. That was something Matt could get behind.

"For sure, I'd love to spar."

Liz called out from atop Keith's shoulders, "So why did Aunt Helen tell us to come? Are you renewing your vows or something?"

Travis answered, "No." He turned to his husband. "That's a good idea, though. It's been almost fifteen years. Could be fun."

Keith tapped his chin, "Do we consider it based on years married? Or Tiers we’ve passed together? We'd be doing a lot of ceremonies if it's by year. But would it be too few if we did it by Tier? We just hit Tier 17."

Travis shrugged. "Something to think on. But no BethBeth."

He swayed out of the kick that Liz sent his way, and spoke as if the interruption didn't even happen. "We’re here because Dominic is ascending here. He just hit Tier 46 and finally solidified his Aspect. Since we are a part of the explorers guild, we got the first warning. It's still mostly a secret, as he wants the date he leaves to coincide with the first day of spring, and he's giving minimal warning. This is where his childhood home was. They expanded the landmass a bit, so the city moved, but this is where he'll ascend."

Matt was shocked. This was incredibly convenient, almost too convenient. Liz voiced his burning question. "Wait. Then how did Aunt Helen know? And why did he wait until now? "

Keith patted the leg over his shoulder, and handed up another kebab to Liz. Travis answered her question, "Not everything revolves around you, Liz. And no, he just hit it a few months ago. Again, it was mostly kept quiet, and only the guild heard about it. We all promised to keep it under wraps. That's why I didn't tell you. If you found this out on your own, well... I can't help that. And who knows with Aunt Helen? She has fingers in more pots than anyone else. She probably knew he got his Aspect before I did."

Keith finished when Travis paused to bite the kebab in his hand. Matt stole one for himself and one for Aster.

"Honestly, if Dominic didn't have to wait the three months, he probably wouldn’t have told anyone. He's big on 'destiny' and 'fate.' He even said that if people couldn't get here in time, it wasn't meant to be. Honestly, I'll be glad when he's no longer the guild leader."

Travis nodded vigorously at that last bit.

Matt felt the need to thank the men. This was exactly what he needed to finish the creation of his image. "Thank you for letting us stay. We won't be in your hair for the..." He used his AI to check the time until the first of spring, a little over five months. "Next five months,” he gulped. “If that's too long, I und..."

Travis and Keith both waved him off. Travis spoke first, though.

"Stop it. You’re family now. And it's not like we don't have room."

"You won't be in the way. Relax a bit. It will be good to spend some time with BethBeth’s friends. Five months really isn't enough time, if you ask me."

Travis waved them towards the house as he turned. "Let's get you settled in. I know you traveled somewhat comfortably for the last month, but trains still suck. I'm sure you want to get off your feet."

They were given the grand tour for Matt's sake. Liz, having already gotten off of Keith's shoulders, already knew her way around.

The ground floor was a living room and kitchen, with a large weight room and sparing area set up. The spatial magic was clearly hard at work, for everything to fit into the house. The gym and sparring room took up the same area as the living room and kitchen. The second floor consisted of guest bedrooms, where Matt and Liz dropped off their bags. The top floor consisted of a garden and master bedroom.

They were all sitting around in the living room, after Liz and Matt had taken a shower to wash off the sweat from their hike.

The five of them were mostly ignoring the wall screen playing a show in the background.

"We'll have to spend the night settled on the ground so we can recharge the mana stone."

Matt saw his chance to be useful and spoke up, "I can help."

Travis waved him off. "A Tier 4 won't really have enough mana to make a difference. But the thought is appreciated."

Matt looked to Liz. The expression on her face said it was up to him. She hadn’t said anything.

It's not like her brother will take advantage of my mana. It also isn't the worst idea to get on Liz's family's good side.

Dropping his veil, Matt activated [Mage's Retreat] with all the mana his AI wasn't using.

Travis cocked his head, and Keith looked up from the platter of cheese and crackers. As the mana cost accumulated, the look of incredulity on their faces tickled a part of Matt's pride he didn't know he had.

"Wait. You're not running out. Hold..."

"You've gotta run out at some point..."

Liz shouted over them and ran off. "Wait. Wait, One moment!"

She came back with an expanding box that unfurled, and shoved it over Matt's head. From the inside, he read out loud, "Unlimited mana. Shake to activate."

"Hey!" Matt lunged and tackled Liz to the ground, to everyone's amusement.

Shaking off the box, he sat on Liz and ignored her protests, turning to her laughing brother and brother-in-law.

"Yeah, I don't really run out of mana. So I'm happy to help."

Keith turned to his husband and said, "Ha! He's a better mage than you."

Liz croaked out from under Matt, "It was half of that last Tier."

Matt just nodded.

That set off a round of exclamation that only ended with Keith changing the screen and putting up the projections of Matt's mana. They didn't ask, but Matt went ahead and shared the finer details of his Talents.

Matt was handed a spare power source, and while they talked, he sent 18 MPS into it. The stone was set to convert to Tier 15 mana, so it took about 500 mana from Matt to condense and unaspect to one mana at that strength. It didn't cost Matt anything, so he was happy to keep the large head-sized crystal in his lap.

They spent the rest of the evening plotting possible builds for him. The two older men had a lot of suggestions and experience. They liked his idea regarding [Hail] and using a mana stone to circumvent his mana regeneration. It would hamper him at the early levels, but would be formidable later on.

It was a fun evening, mostly spent chatting. They made him feel welcomed and as if he belonged right off the bat. They really felt like family.

***

The next morning they lounged around after a light breakfast. Keith went to work out, and Matt joined him.

The weight room was even better than the one on the PlayPen. Each weight had mana powered gravity resistors, so there was no need to change the weights for the Tier 17 and Tier 4.

After they worked out, Matt asked Keith if he wanted to spar, but the man declined, saying he had a better idea.

Matt followed him to a closet, where he pulled two swords out. He tossed one to Matt, saying, "Swap the mana stone in the center with one of yours. Let's go flying."

They went out to the courtyard, where Keith dropped the swords on the ground. "Flying objects can look like anything, but I'm a purist, and think they should be swords. One, it’s tradition. And two, it looks cool as hell."

He pointed at the sword in front of Matt and said, "That's my old sword. It's a Tier 7 sword and purely for flying. My new sword is combat orientated."

With a tap of his foot, the sword broke into a dozen smaller daggers and floated around him.

"I lose some speed and maneuverability for practicality. You won't get that out of any item less than Tier 15, though. Flying items are great for when rifts start to get big. Or for when you explore new planets, like Travis and I. Planets are big, and being able to fly lets you move a lot faster. No ground terrain and stuff."

His sword reassembled itself back into its single sword form, and Keth stepped on.

"So, stand on your sword."

Matt did so, and a prompt pinged his AI, asking if he wanted to link to this item.

"You should see a prompt. Agree, and stand on the sword. Oh also, activate your armor. There shouldn't be any interference."

Matt did as instructed, and almost lost his balance when the sword lifted a few inches off the ground.

Keith floated around him and said, "The swords can be controlled by your AI, and there's nothing wrong with that, but the true way to fly is only controlling the rear thrust. Then you use your balance to control the direction. Well, there’s also your vertical thrust, but once you get going, you can turn that off and purely rely on the rear thrust. That’s when you really start moving."

Matt kept still and asked, "What keeps my feet attached?"

"Friction runes at the top. They'll lock down your feet pretty well. Some models you can strap in, but that's no fun. Alright, try to move a little."

Shifting his center of balance, Matt started hovering along the ground, and after a few moments, he was pretty confident in controlling his direction. Even so, stopping was a little awkward, and he almost lost his balance.

Keith nodded, and when he suggested they take off, he was interrupted by a cough from behind them.

Travis stood there with two harnesses dangling from his fingers. "You’re missing something if you want to take a newbie up in the air."

Keith opened his mouth but closed it, gliding over to his husband.

He handed Matt one of the harnesses, and while he put on his said, "These are safe fall vests. At the cost of a few hundred mana, they’ll slow your fall to nothing. Hitting the ground will be at most like falling five feet."

"Why didn't I get one before?"

Keith scoffed at that. "One, I'm here. You'll be fine. Two, you have an armor skill that would have ensured you survived the hit. And three, they remove the risk and therefore half the fun."

Matt didn't agree with that last bit, and was glad that Travis had brought out the harness. It also linked to his AI, and he saw that it was fully charged.

"Alright, follow me."

With that, Keith rose up out of the courtyard and disappeared over the wall.

Carefully, Matt gave the mental command to have the AI increase the lift.

He was lifted over the wall, and once he was sure he was clear of the top, he turned the rear thrust on. With a small jerk, he was over the wall and flying out into the valley.

Looking down, he saw the green of the trees and a line where a stream cut a line in the canopy.

Keith flew by him and called out, "Let's get some height."

The Tier 17 shot up, and Matt did the same. But the pure vertical lift was too weak, so he angled the tip of the sword, and slowly turned up the rear thrust. It let him climb a lot faster, and he soon caught up to Keith.

They were so high, they were closer to the lowest clouds than they were to the ground.

Keith shouted over the wind that Matt couldn't feel with [Cracked Phantom Armor] active. "The first lesson is falling."

With that, the man leaned back until he tumbled off his sword. He straightened out, and once he was facing the ground, he rotated until he was ‘standing’, as if on the ground.

Then, his sword sped around in a wide arc and dove under his feet, where the man took control and quickly returned to where Matt was flying.

"Staying high is safer. Any flying item will attempt to save you. And they’re good at it. These," he plucked at the harness, "Are a backup to the backup. Let's get you some height, and I'll follow you down. But you need to learn how to fall, so if you take a tumble at speed, you don't panic."

With that, they doubled their height.

Matt stood and looked at the cloud that was approaching them. It went against every instinct he had to deliberately fall off of the item responsible for keeping him in the air.

With a deep breath, he leaned back and suppressed his screaming desire to crouch and shift his center of balance.

The sword, even with its friction runes, slipped from his feet, and Matt was falling. The wind from his fall battered his armor. In that moment, he truly felt free.

Enjoying the sensation for a moment longer, Matt righted himself as his borrowed sword flew under him. When he was standing, the sword stuck to his feet, slowing his descent at a controlled pace.

Keith swooped by and gave Matt a thumbs up. Matt whooped back, and used the rear throttle to shoot himself up into the sky.

They weaved and bobbed through the air for nearly an hour, until Keith said that he needed to swap mana stones. Matt had been keeping his topped off, so he watched as Keith rose up and then lay on the sword. He quickly swapped the stones and, in a pushup motion, hopped back up to his standing position.

"That's how you do it when you can't afford to recharge it out of your mana pool. Always good to have an extra mana crystal."

Matt had noticed that Keith's flying sword’s tip was pointing forward, and the sword that he was using was the opposite.

"It's because this is a combat sword. It's an easy way to know the difference."

That was a surprisingly simple answer.

They flew for another fifteen minutes, then Keith slowed down, so Matt mirrored him. They were two valleys away from their house.

Keith flew next to a cliff and hopped off, with Matt following him. They sat next to each other and enjoyed the scenery.

Keith broke the silence after a few minutes. "So as I understand it, Liz hasn't told you who her parents are. If you want to know, I feel you have the right, so I'll tell you."

Matt considered the offer, and once he had his thoughts in order, he said, "She's made the offer, but seems reluctant to share. And if I'm being honest, I don't care. Liz is Liz. Her parents are mostly irrelevant to what I think of her."

He was getting frustrated. This wasn't coming out right, so he tried again. "Parents don't define you. I can't say I get it, as I don't have parents anymore, but it doesn't feel relevant. I have some guesses and speculation, but in the end, I trust her. It feels weird, but who am I to judge."

Keith just looked at him for a moment, and when it was clear that Matt was finished, he said, "Growing up with parents with a personality that large is hard. I'm a son-in-law, but I still get it, and I didn't even grow up with them. They are great people, and would do anything for friends of the family. But all of their children have weird hangups. Mostly with power or authority."

He took a deep breath and finished. "Travis has a problem with people stronger than him giving him things. We’ve been to therapy, and he knows it's a hangup, but it still haunts him. So, I stay a fraction of a percent of essence behind him. It lets him feel like he's protecting me, which is funny, as I'm the front line, but it's his hangup. He's cute about it. He even insists that we advance together, but I always let him take a bit of the lead. Dian, Travis' older sister, takes it out by having a harem with more people than days in the year."

Keith grimaced, "Liz had it worse. She didn't grow up with friends her own age that had similar powers. She isn't wrong when she says that anyone her age that got close to her had ulterior motives. She still had a family, with the rest of her siblings and us. And she has more Aunts and Uncles than you can count. But people her own age are a different matter, and that's her hangup. But in the end, that's Liz's problem. If you want to know, you deserve to know."

Matt thought it over and said, "Thanks. I never really thought of it like that. I think, for now, Liz can keep her secret. She said before that she was free from interference until Tier 10. And well... I think she'll tell me before that."

Keith slapped his leg and stood. "Well, enough of that somber shit. Let's throw a ball back and forth a bit."

They spent another hour tossing a ball back and forth. Matt started to activate [Mage's Retreat], so he could keep up ever so slightly with the Tier 17. It was fun, but eventually, they went down and landed back at the couple's house.

"That was amazing. Thank Keith. That was a new experience. I need to get me one of these."

Keith grimaced and said, "I'd just give you that, but with you being on The Path, gifts from higher Tiers get iffy really quickly."

Matt shrugged, "Maybe I can sell some mana or something. We have a bit saved up already, and I could use the mobility."

"They get pricey, but selling your mana could be a good avenue. With the ascension happening here, they are going to be building temporary structures all around these mountains, and the amount of mana that’s going to be expended will be impressive. We can look into just using the house's extra crystals, so it keeps you from having to reveal your mana regen. Worst comes to worst. We can just say Travis is making the mana. He's a Tier 17 mage."

Matt was touched. Keith was genuinely looking out for his best interest. He nodded and agreed with the older man's words.

They sat around the table and ate a comfortable dinner together. It was an almost painful reminder of Matt eating with his parents growing up.

Travis asked Matt and Liz, "So you have nearly half a year. What do you both intend to do besides practice? That reminds me," He looked at Matt and asked, "You’re working on your Concept’s image, right?"

At Matt's nod, he continued, "I'm sure Liz has gone over it with you, but tomorrow, Keith and I will sit down with you and go over what we know. You don't have to tell me anything private, but I think I can help."

"You really don't have to. It's too much."

Travis smirked, and waited for Matt to finish his excuses. "Matt. You’re stuck with my sister for a long time. No matter what type of relationship you two end up in, you'll still be family. Don't stop us from helping where we can. Having an ascension gives you opportunities, and if you aren't prepared, you might miss them. A thank you is all I want or expect."

Matt swallowed. His comment about his and Liz's relationship brought awkward thoughts to the front of his mind. He focused on the end of his comment, and simply did as he was asked, and thanked the man.

"Thanks. I'll take you up on that. And I was mostly planning to take some classes and..." It was hard to say, but he pushed through, "Talk to a therapist."

Travis nodded and said, "Don't be afraid to shop around for a therapist that fits you. If they don't feel right, don't feel bad about swapping. I went through nearly twenty until I landed on Dr. Michel."

Matt didn't know why he feared ridicule from these people, but the lack of even a snide joke left him oddly relieved.

Keith interjected, "You should look into a hobby. Look at smithing or enchanting. Anything, really. I like to make furniture in my free time. Travis likes to garden. Make a list of the professions you would be interested in, and work from the least likely to the most. The nearest city has classes where you can check nearly anything out."

Seeing the question Matt was going to ask, he spoke over him. "Just take the flying sword you used earlier. As long as you’re here, you’re welcome to use it. Like I said, I'd give it to you if I could. You can even use it to take Aster and Liz to the city as well. It saves one of us from having to do it. We won't make you hike out here every time."

Matt was touched. During the remainder of dinner, he made a mental list of things he could see himself doing. He already knew what he would probably end up doing, but gave an honest effort to looking up other professions.

Later that night, he, Liz, and Aster were watching the stars in the grass out front of the house. Matt made it a point to look at the night sky on every planet he traveled. Each was a unique painting of light, and they always settled him down.

Liz had moved over, and was lying on his outstretched arm.

Matt felt that it was time to bring up the topic he had been avoiding.

"Liz?"

"Hmm?"

"We have an… ugh... attraction between us." Getting the words out had been more awkward than Matt expected.

Liz stiffened at the words. A moment later, she relaxed, "I... yeah."

Before she could say more, Matt spoke on, "Does it have to do with the fact that you've never had a friend before? A real friend?"

The tension returned to Liz's body, but she didn't say anything for a long moment.

The stars had moved appreciably when she whispered, "I don't know. Maybe. You're attractive, and honestly, it's been hard to not want to rip our clothes off after some of our close encounters with death. But I do realize that I have hangups. It's one of the reasons I haven't made any kind of move. I don't want to ruin it, but a part of me feels that if we got together, it would stop you from leaving. And that's not a good thought either. I've had a few emails with my own therapist about it, but..."

She sighed and slumped, "There’s a reason that nobility and higher Tier families recommend that no serious relationships start until Tier 15. The time period gives everyone experiences, and allows kids to mature."

Matt whispered back, "I don't care who your parents are. I may have rushed into giving you the growth item by most standards, but I don't regret it. We work as a team really well. And I think we make good friends. I can't even imagine spending my time without you."

Pausing, Matt gathered his thoughts. Liz didn't rush him. "I'm not going anywhere. There's nothing wrong with not rushing into anything. Tier 15 seems far away, but if I had to choose, I'd rather go slow with anything between us. We can't take back rash decisions. So lets keep doing what we are doing. Nothing official until later. I don’t think either of us relish not having sex for a hundred years."

"Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for understanding and being a good friend."

"Anytime."

They sat in silence while they watched the stars, and eventually, Matt got up, and they made their way to their respective rooms. He was in bed after a quick shower, and a light tap at his door got his heart racing.

Liz walked into his room with wet hair and an overly large shirt clinging to her form.

"I was taking a shower, and I realized that this is stupid. I can't ask you to face your fears and do therapy without confronting my own problems."

She took a large breath and said, "My parents are Leon and Mara, two of the royals."

With that finally out in the open, she disappeared out of the door. He heard her door click with a snick that said she locked the door.

Matt was slightly in shock. He had searched everything, and they were the most obvious answer, but they were both officially single.

Then he checked the EmpireNet and found that Mara and Leon, the extremely powerful royals, were single. There was a marriage record of one Leon Moore and one Mara Moore set nearly two thousand years ago. Why the distinction, he didn't know, but it was obvious when you knew what to look for.

He crawled under his covers, when he saw Aster's ears flicking towards Liz's room. He cocked his head, and heard what had startled the fox. Through the walls, they could hear hiccups and cries.

Matt took a deep breath and picked up Aster. He knocked on Liz's door. A moment later, he heard through the door, "Everything’s fine."

"It's not Liz. Open up, please. We’re here for you."

The door opened, and Liz threw herself into his arms, weeping into Aster's fur.

"It's scary. Anytime I've told people, they look at me differently. I hate it."

Matt caught her chin and made her look at him. He gave her his best smile while looking deep into her eyes. "I don't care about your parents."

She met his eyes, and after a moment, they watered up, and her weeping started again.

"I'm sorry for not telling you for so long."

She kept trying to apologize, but he kept whispering reassurances. Aster did her best to comfort the girl with head rubs and quiet yips.

They made their way into Liz's room, and she wept into his shoulder and clutched Aster to her until she fell asleep.