The Path of Ascension

Matt swung his sword back and forth. Blow after blow carved through the enemies before him. As he killed one, two replaced them. He tried to escape, but his feet felt stuck in the ground.

The crab monsters slowly morphed into horses with teeth of fire. He stood his ground and continued to cut through them all. In the distance, he heard a faint cry, and fought in that direction. He just couldn't move.

He and his blade were one as they mowed through the thousands of winged rats that replaced the crabs turned horses. With his skills fully charged, Matt made quick work of them, but the more enemies he killed, the farther away the voice sounded. Soon, he was unable to move, and the voice seemed to be moving away from him.

As he looked on, the landscape beyond was just a flat, blank slate full of monsters—an endless struggle against faceless obstacles.

Unable to move, Matt stood his ground and slaughtered anything that approached him. He desperately searched for the pull in his spirit that seemed to lead him towards the distant voice. He tried to drive himself forward to no avail, failing to find the source of the noise in the endless sea of enemies.

***

Liz retreated through her parent's home. They were nearly upon her. A hard left turn led her to the hall that connected to her parents' second dining hall. She was panting, and a quick glance behind her told her that she’d escaped.

Her heaving breaths sounded far too loud in the empty corridors. Each step on the polished wood flooring sounded like weights being dropped. Every echoing sound added to Liz’s growing dread of being found again.

Another noise caused her to take off running again, pushing through the sore and aching muscles. The pain was nothing, and she would prevail. If she found her parents, everything would be okay.

She paused. That wasn't right. She didn't want her parents' help. She was strong on her own.

Liz opened the nearest door to find Kelly, the young girl from two apartments down.

“Kelly!! Have you seen my parents?”

“No, but can you help my parents? They just need a little money. Mommy’s potion shop isn’t doing well.”

She looked around for her parents. They told her to always find them if someone mentioned money. But she liked Kelly, so she offered up her allowance of a few dozen credits.

“Is that it? It’s not enough!” There were tears running down her face. “If she doesn’t get more, the bad men are going to take her store away. Aren’t you rich? Why won’t you help my mommy?”

Kelly threw the small, glowing currency down, and stomped on it as she turned large and angry. Flames escaped from her eyes as she screamed that it wasn't enough.

Liz ran through the door and slammed it shut. She breathed heavily into the cool wood. Before she could process what had just happened, she was already opening the next one.

Dominic, her hairdresser, snipped her hair shorter on one side after she saw it in a movie.

“You know, the preserve of Jastor Nath fish is nearly extinct. That means they will be all gone soon.”

Liz gasped in the boosted chair. Extinction was bad. She had learned that word in school last week!

“That's not good!”

“Yeah, it's really bad. I'm a part of a charity that’s trying to save them.”

“That's so cool! Can I help?”

“Yes. You just need to get your parents to donate.”

Liz tried to find her mother, but she was gone. She had to find her. She got up and ran towards the exit. Again, she found herself in the long hallway.

The next door had gold filigree around the edges, and when she opened it, she wound up playing with some blocks that she found at the edge of a party.

“Aren't you just the sweetest little thing!”

Liz looked up at a matronly woman, “Thank you!”

She didn't know what she had done to earn the compliment, and she was slightly miffed that it wasn't about her blocks. She had a perfectly presentable tower halfway built. Her work was what deserved to be complimented, but her dad always said to be polite, so she thanked the lady.

“Not like those common rabble. When I ruled my house, they didn't let the filthy commoners into the capital. No, it was well kept, and only for those of the peerage. Those of superior blood and breeding. You should come with me. I have a nephew your age who would be perfect for you.”

The woman reached for Liz’s hand. Liz was scared. She didn’t like this woman.

She pulled her hand away and ran, noticing that she was suddenly taller as she crashed into the arms of a handsome young man on a ballroom floor.

Liz leaned into the chest of a sixteen year old Hedon. She stared up at him, eyes fluttering. He was handsome, charming, and soo dreamy. All the other girls were jealous that she was dancing with him. And at twelve Liz was smitten.

“So you’ll come to the autumn ball for society youth with me?”

Liz wanted to frown but refrained herself. She hated social events, but for Hedon she agreed. “Of course. I just need to tell my parents about the change of plans.”

Hedon laughed, “Oh no it's ok. We can sneak out. It will be great fun.”

Liz turned her head, looking for her parents, and when she turned back, Hedon was gone. She was back in the hallway. She moved down to the next door before she paused. She could barely grip the handle with how hard her hands were shaking. But she pressed on.

She opened the final door, only to find herself standing on the battlement and fighting off hordes of attackers. There were endless crowds in the Queendom’s colors of purple and silver. She whipped out a line of blood and cut half a dozen people in half.

She fought until her mana ran dry, and she resorted to her spear. When her spear broke, she clawed at them with her fingernails. When her fingers were worn away, she bit and tore chunks away from them.

Everything turned fuzzy as she watched Matt and Aster succumb to the horde of enemies. She watched as they were dragged under, to never rise up again.

Still she fought the horde, even as they screamed at her how she was the real monster for how she brutally killed them. It was a mantra repeated each and every time she vanquished another foe.

Finally, she was standing alone on a balcony, and an archer stood across from her. With a mental effort, she tried to gather the blood around and on her, but with no mana to back it up, the blood didn't respond to her call. The arrow split a dozen times while in its flight towards her.

She had no fear, as she knew her parents would save her.

The arrow came closer.

Liz tried to turn away. She could save herself. She could save her friends. She could...

The arrow slammed into her.

Liz died.

***

Matt was on his back, gripping a giant mouth that tried to descend and eat him.

With a start, he jumped up into the descending mouth, causing him to nearly hit his head into the bunk above as he jerked awake.

He slipped out of bed to be eye level with Liz as she tossed and turned. She was sweating through her clothes, and the expression on her face was enough for Matt to reach up and shake her awake.

She startled up with a quiet gasp. Aster, who was on the bed with her, jerked up at the sound. Liz popped up, and Matt didn't miss how her shirt clung to her from the sweat. Even her hair was wild and clinging to her face, as if in a parody of blood.

“Sorry, bad dream.”

“Yeah me too. I heard you and thought I should wake you up.”

Liz pulled the confused fox into a brief hug as Matt heard her say, “Okay? Scared, sad, bad?”

He nuzzled her head from behind as Liz held her and projected, “It's okay. Just a bad dream. It's all better.”

Liz plucked at the shirt that clung to her flesh. “I need a shower.” She sniffed at herself and recoiled, “And I fucking reek. Ugh.”

Matt checked himself and decided it would be a good idea to do the same. He was drenched too.

The three of them quietly moved out of the room and into the shower rooms, where they washed the night terrors away. Aster stayed outside of the dreaded hot water, but pushed encouraging thoughts Matt's way and yipped a few times at Liz.

When they were done cleaning off, they moved to a lounge area, where the bright lights chased away any lingering thoughts of monsters that tried to manifest in the stitching of the couches.

Matt sat and patted the couch next to him, and Liz sat close, with Aster taking her position on their laps. His bond spun twice before she settled down in a ball, with her tail blocking out most of the light.

Liz petted the circular ball of fox, and they all sat quietly.

She looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end, she refrained. Matt spoke up instead. “I might have been a little too cavalier about my death. From the nightmares, it hit a bit harder than I expected. I was fighting endless opponents. It's getting fuzzy now, but I needed to go somewhere. I just couldn't get there.”

Before either of them could say more, an older woman came into their room with a steaming teapot and cookies.

That would have been weird enough, but she was in full healer's robes. As she dropped off the tray, she offered, “If anyone needs to talk to a therapist, we’re always open to listen. You can find us in the relaxation room, or send a message to the hospital AI. We know this can be hard to process.”

With that, she was gone, and the three of them sat there quietly. Matt leaned forward and started to pour the tea, and passed the little cups around. He didn't know what type of tea it was, but as he drank, the hot liquid had a soothing effect. Soon, he found himself relaxing into the couch. He idly wondered if the tea had been spiked, but he felt fine. Just calm.

Matt looked to Liz, who had seemingly had the hardest night.

She shook her head after sipping from her own cup.

“It was mostly memories. But twisted into weird patterns. Things I'd rather not think about too much honestly.”

She paused for a long minute as she dunked the small biscuit into the tea before asking, “What about you?”

“My dream was more fuzzy. Something about not being able to move. I'm not sure. There might have been a voice. It’s all fading.”

Matt rubbed her back while he took control of the room's wall screen and started playing an old comedy show. It was mindless background noise, but it was enough to get a few chuckles from them.

***

Liz stood on a couch back with a hand holding Matt’s to stabilize her. She probably didn't need it, but he felt better offering it. They were back in a neutral meeting hall, gathered early at Liz’s request to plan their approach for dealing with the various sides' negotiations.

“I got a message for a private meeting before the larger general meeting. I’m sure they’ll try to offer us a pittance for our hardships. If everyone argues for the maximum amount, they’ll know that we aren’t leaving until we’ve had our pound of flesh.”

There was a murmur from the hundred or so gathered Pathers from both sides.

Liz nodded at what she heard. “They aren’t dumb, and they’re moving quickly to try and stop us from doing exactly what we’re trying to do. If we stick together, and argue as a group in the larger meeting, we can get much more. Just don't give into the short term rewards at the cost of long term ones.”

“But they gave us our points back!” Someone said from the general crowd.

Liz nearly spat at them, “They gave us half of our lost points to counter their fuck up. No. We shouldn't be content with shitty handouts disguised as rewards. Rewards should be prizes in and of themselves.”

Liz looked as if she was about to say more, when Matt received a message that their meeting slot was up.

As she dropped down, Liz reminded everyone, “Don't accept their scraps. Argue that you want more, and that we’ll only negotiate as a group.”

The six of them were pulled into a meeting room with Juni, who sat there and smiled tightly at them as they entered. He stood and shook each of their hands as they passed each other, and took a seat on the opposite side of the long table.

Matt tapped it as they sat. The table's wood gave a strong, sturdy feeling that he wasn't sure of, but after examining it with his spirit, he guessed that the material was at least Tier 10.

Expensive for a meeting room. Or a statement.

“Sorry about everything. We just wanted to speak with the individual teams before the larger meeting, and see how we can make things right. This is your chance to air your grievances.”

Matt and the others all let Liz take the lead as she leaned forward and said, “I’m not sure you can. We’re out twenty thousand points and two weeks' time, which could mean far more points than we’ve already lost. It's a significant blow to our point generation.”

Juni nodded and said, “We are punishing the guilty parties as much as possible. To our regret, the Empire doesn't allow us to fine points from anyone. Even our own people.”

Liz seemed as unconcerned as Juni was while she countered, “Remove them from the war. That would send the proper message to any would-be offenders.”

The Prince's right hand man actually frowned at that. “We would if we could, but the army heavily limits the number of Tier 7’s we’re allowed to have, and the spots are not transferable. As much as we hate what was done to you and your team, it's not feasible to cripple our limited Tier 7 powerbase. So only two from each side were removed completely. It was considered fair, as they had no remorse, and openly stated that they would do it again if given the opportunity. But since each side punished an equal number of people, it keeps either side from gaining an advantage.”

He gestured to the side, “We’ve arranged for you to talk to the people who have harmed you. It’s the best we can do right now. Please remember that you’ll get in trouble for attacking them without a duel, and you all are on healing cooldowns. Also, there’s no way to force a duel.”

Liz held up a hand. “We’ll want to talk to Alyssa. Don't doubt that at all. But first, we want to hear your offer.”

Juni’s smile returned. “As I mentioned before, we will be matching the points earned from the Empire, if the points earned were the result of the proper orders, and if no allies were betrayed during the process. We feel that is fair compensation, and incentive to have everyone act appropriately.”

Matt actually felt that his offer wasn’t too bad. If they earned double the original amount, that could equal quite a lot of points in their pockets.

Liz ignored the gesture to say, “Our team, and the other Pathers who were affected, will want to negotiate for more than that during the joint meeting. But we’ll be happy to see Alyssa now.”

Juni didn't seem willing to push for more, and simply looked to a second door. The one they hadn’t entered through.

Alyssa sauntered over to them, using a multi colored parasol as both a cane and a baton. One moment she was leaning on the parasol, and the next she was twirling it through the air. She was a plain woman in everything except her clothes. Her brown hair and eyes matched perfectly with her unremarkable facial features.

Her clothes reflected her parasol in their loud and bright colors.

Matt felt the tension in the room skyrocket from his team, and briefly placed a hand on Liz’s leg under the table, to ward any explosions off. The rest of their team came up and flanked them, creating a wall against the woman who had screwed them over so badly.

Juni made introductions and then fled the room. “Alyssa Clairmont, Team Bucket. Team Bucket, Alyssa Clairmont.”

Alyssa came up and smiled brightly at them all. “Well, good to meet you all. Shame it couldn't have been yesterday, but with you all dying, it made it a bit difficult.”

Annie snapped out, “Ohh, you have nerve, woman. I'm going to...”

Alyssa waved them off. “Don't be crass, dear. It's unsightly.”

Liz, calmer now, said, “It's unsightly to throw allies under the bus for points. If you had done your job yesterday and backed us up, we would have met then, so don't try and turn this around on us.”

Alyssa didn't seem bothered in the least, and waved her parasol around as she said, “Oh, don't be that way. Those that can, do. And I can. I did what was best for me at the time.” She shrugged. “If I had known you were so competent, I would have moved in between the two waves of attackers. I thought you would die on the first attack. I wouldn't have done that if I had known, but we all make our decisions, and we must sleep in the beds we make.”

She twirled her parasol once again, before catching it over her shoulders with a flourish at the end of her statement.

Matt’s attention quickly latched onto that colorful rainbow of light that was emitted from the fabric, and felt something like his growth mana ring. Her parasol had multiple aspects of mana flowing through it.

He was awoken from his inspection by a pinch on the leg from Liz.

Realizing what his inspection looked like, he clarified quickly. “Your parasol feels interesting. It's full of random aspected mana. It feels more like a weapon, though.”

The woman beamed as if she had won a prize, “Oh this lovely thing? I got it from a wannabe suitor from the Empire. My darling here is a growth item as pretty as I am. We match so well, don't you think?”

Liz wasn't impressed, and moved back to Alyssa's last statement. “You had better watch yourself, or you’ll get a taste of your own medicine sooner or later.”

Alyssa looked unconcerned with Liz’s not-so-subtle threat. “What goes around comes around. I'm not particularly worried about it. What will be, will be.”

Emily said from her end of the table, “We want a duel from you.”

Alyssa looked overly put upon and sighed dramatically. “The same thing little Albie asked for. No I won't duel you. I did nothing wrong. Was I selfish? Yes, without a doubt. Do I care? Not really. It really wasn’t anything personal, and I’ve already been punished quite harshly. It's just a game.”

She sighed dramatically and said, “If you want someone to blame, blame math. It was simply worth more points to let you die. We aren’t friends yet, so I had no incentive to help you. Besides, you’re all getting lucky with Albie’s bribe. Most of the other Pather’s aren't so lucky. My little birds have been flitting about, and learned that most teams won't be getting nearly as good a deal as you were offered.”

She smirked at Liz, and met all of their gazes before she stood and sauntered out the door, calling over her shoulder, “Well, I’ll be on my way. After the next meeting I have a mission where I’m sure I’ll be tragically ambushed. I’ll see you at the little group therapy session in a bit. Ta ta!”

Annie shrugged as the door closed. “I don't give two rats asses about what makes me look bad. I’m going to kill her the minute I can get away with it. She can decline our duels all she wants, but she can't decline an assassination. She can bitch all she wants after the fact, but it won't do her any good with a dagger in her throat.”

Matt was pretty angry himself. “I’m going to break both her legs. The healer said that was the most painful thing to break. Think you can work that into it?”

Annie bobbed her head around a little and said, “Yeah, probably.”

Matt threw her a thumbs up.

Maybe after Annie kills her a few times, she'll be willing to duel us to get the assassinations to stop?

Matt wasn't sure it would work, but he liked the idea.

Conor broke him out of his reverie. “While I hate to break up your revenge fantasy, I think we should draw the line at actual torture.”

Annie shot Conor a betrayed look, similar to the look that Aster would give Matt when he cut her off from eating ice cream.

Conor looked at Annie with an almost imperceptible smile on his face as he explained, “Sure she was being selfish, but she had a point. She was just gaming a flawed system, and she had no real reason to help us or the Kingdom. Which, from everything I’ve seen and heard, is total dogshit. And she can clearly get out at any time, if her suitor comments are true. She had no reason to play nice.”

He shrugged, “I think a single death will be sufficient. She’ll lose half her points and be out of the war for two weeks. Same as us, except she won’t get those points back.”

Annie countered zealously, “She should die six times. One for each of us.”

Matt ignored the bickering. He wanted to hate Alyssa, but maybe Conor was right, and he and Annie were going a little overboard with their plans for retribution.

***

Juni moved to the Prince’s side as the meeting hall filled. “Things were worse than we expected. No one’s taking the bait. They all demand to collectively negotiate for compensation.”

Albert shrugged. “It was always a possibility. We’ll pay more up front, but in the end, they can't gather up every time one of them dies. It will work itself out.”

Juni hesitated for a moment and said, “We’ll have to cancel the strike on Alyssa. She knows about it already.”

He wanted to curse the woman. For as much as she was a pain in the ass, she was good at networking and getting spies into places they shouldn't be. It was good that he had bugged all the meeting rooms beforehand, or he would have missed that she was already aware of their ploy.

Albert didn't look surprised at that. “We both knew that it was a long shot. If we just pause the order, we might be able to cause her to worry, and that could be just as bad for her.”

Juni wasn't so sure, but as Princess Sara walked forward, he stepped back and started observing the crowd for the upcoming negotiation. No matter how this turned out, he needed to identify the major players and start learning their weak points, so the proper leverage could be applied.

***

Matt stood with about one hundred others in a large meeting hall. They were all Pathers who had been screwed over in various ways over the last few days.

The groups weren’t only the teams that Liz had spent all morning recruiting for her plan. No, there were at least a dozen more teams that had been abandoned by their vassal allies and other preventable disasters.

The mood of the room was sour, and getting worse by the minute as they waited for the Prince and Princess to arrive. No one seemed to have taken the small bait offered in the individual meeting, which seemed to only piss the other teams off even more.

Something Alyssa had said sent Liz into a messaging frenzy, and she had spent the entire time after their meeting typing at her pad and sending messages to various parties. It was like a fire had been lit under her.

That was what led to more than half of the room being distinctly crowded around their group of six. Both sides were present and mixing without the enmity Matt might’ve expected.

He hadn't needed to ask Liz after he thought about it for a little while. In the end, calling the Pathers here to fight as mercenaries wasn't wrong. Their fights with each other were the reason for the war, sure, but it was also a game. And the vassals were screwing it up.

None of them had been able to sleep much before the meeting, so Matt had read parts of the book that Liz had recommended. While he didn't find it as interesting as she had, he certainly learned a few things. Mostly, he learned that if the vassals didn't stop these problems now, they would, at least historically, spiral out of control. At least until a third faction was formed, or the army stepped in and laid down new rules.

Matt was very interested in what those new rules would be, as he thought that they could be a good starting point for arguments. But two things killed that hope. One was that there was no record of what those extra rules could possibly be. Anywhere. He had searched high and low on the EmpireNet, but had found nothing.

The second was that Liz, when he mentioned it to her, said that it was a last resort for a reason. They were meant to deal with these things on their own. It was a test for both the Pathers and the vassal faction’s young leaders.

His musings were interrupted when Sara and Albert walked onto the raised stage. Matt wasn't sure what he expected, but they seemed unconcerned by the array of angry faces aligned against them.

“Good afternoon. I wish this meeting was under more joyous circumstances.”

The Prince’s opening statement was met with a hiss of anger, which he nodded towards and spoke over.

“Yes. As I said, these are not ideal circumstances by any means. While I had hoped that the individual meetings would allow for more personal negotiations, Princess Sara and I are more than willing to hear everyone out.”

Princess Sara took over. “Is there a speaker for everyone? It would be easier that way.”

Calmly Liz called out, “The offer of points is a bandage for the greater problem. And that's not good enough.”

All around them, there were murmurs of, “Yeah.”

Princess Sara looked unsurprised as she asked, “And what is it that you want? More points? Money? A duel we can't force?”

Liz smiled right back at the woman looming over her. “No. We-” she spread her arms out, encompassing the small faction she had created. “-and a few thousand of our friends don't like how we’re being treated, and want a change.”

“You don't have...”

Sara started to speak, but Liz cut her off. “Oh, I assure you we do. We have both the authority and the leverage to demand what we want. On my side, I have the top ten percent of earners for the Pathers.” She paused to emphasize her words and finished with, “From both sides.”

Liz’s voice echoed out as she continued. “We’re all angry, and most of us have two weeks of healing cooldown. We have nothing better to do than trying to drum up support for our faction.”

Princess Sara looked miffed, but asked, “And what are your demands? If you think you’ll be able to create a third faction, you overestimate how badly we’ve mistreated the Pathers as a whole.”

Liz laughe and said, “No. What we want is a cut of the profits, and a seat at the table.”

Albert looked genuinely surprised at that and asked, “How so?”

Liz looked like a shark that had found its prey, and with a wicked smile, said, “We want three percent of the points earned by our various factions. Given to the teams with the greatest contribution based on percentage. According to the point totals published by the Army, that should be adequate compensation. If you want us to fight, we need some skin in the game. We also want a voice in all decision making and command sessions going forward. We want a council created for all war decisions.”

Princess Sara looked slightly green at the suggestion, and Albert looked stonier than usual.

Liz jumped on their hesitation. “Don't think we didn't notice that not all of us have been reimbursed. More than one team was simply told to go pound sand. This isn't ok. We, right here, are a pretty good representation of the best that the Path has to offer. If we dont look out for everyone else now, we’ll all be screwed over sooner or later. And in two weeks, we can have everyone on The Path refusing orders. If you’re willing to treat us like this, how much worse will it be for the lesser Pathers?”

The Princess finally said, “We can't do that. It would disrupt our plans too much, and I don't believe that you can get enough of a faction together to force our hands. That would cripple our point production and slow down every decision to a crawl. It's an outlandish, childish desire.”

Liz was about to speak up, when suddenly, Alyssa's voice rang out from a corner as she walked to the edge of the stage. She sat down on the edge and said, “I and the people I represent agree to this, but we want in on it as well. And I want a seat on any decision making council.”

She looked at The Prince while twirling her obnoxious parasol. “I've been talking to the crafters in our outlying cities, and they aren't happy with how things are being handled. I'll be taking over as a voice for them.” She waved a hand around and nearly took out someone’s head with her parasol. “Mana shortages and such. I can solve them, if given the right incentive.”

Albert didn't look happy, but after a brief whisper with Juni he nodded. “I see you had your fingers in that pie already.”

Alyssa beamed at him. “Oh, I knew you would try to freeze me out Albie. I took my own measures. But remember that I didn't cause the mana problems. You shouldn’t have only spent your points for mana for the defensive formations. You know how much mana the crafters use, and how they can get when there isn’t enough of it. That was your lack of foresight. I just strolled around, and heard oh so much juicy gossip. Same with your cities, Sara. I have agreements with both sides’ poor, forgotten crafters to negotiate on their behalf.”

Liz looked like she was about to spit fire at the other woman, but she didn't let it show as more than a clenching of her fist. Still, she didn't look half as mad as Sara, who realized that a Kingdom representative had the ability to speak for her crafters.

Princess Sara spat out, “It's Princess Sara to you, and I'll see your hold over my people broken the second I leave here you venomous, slithering, snake.”

Alyssa seemed unruffled by the threat and just smiled demurely. “I’m sure you will. I look forward to meeting them, Princess Sara.”

Liz was perfectly calm and collected, and she took advantage of the change in conversation to agree with Alyssa's counter offer. She replied with a clear voice, “If we’re going to split the points over such a large population, we need a larger percentage. Five percent minimum.”

Matt's currently most hated person leaned forward on her parasol with a genuine smile and added, “One percent of that five to be spread equally to everyone. The poor crafters don’t get out much. Hard to earn points inside a city. The other four are to be spread to those that earn it.”

Liz nearly growled out, “To those that earn it.”

With the two of them in agreement, the entire room's focus shifted to the two faction leaders on the stage. Somehow, the argument had turned from the two vassal leaders, to an argument between Liz and Alyssa, then back to the royals just as quickly.

Albert and Sara leaned in and conversed in whispers for what felt like an eternity. The crowd started to murmur after the first minute, and after the fifth, there was an audible growl in the air.

The discussion between the two leaders turned quite heated, and they took turns glaring at both Liz and Alyssa, before they removed their privacy barrier and came up from their huddle.

Sara spoke for both of them. “We can agree to these terms, with the added stipulation that there be no more hesitation or backstabbing on either side. If there is, the offending party will go on a planet-wide blacklist, and be given no help from their own side. A higher reward will also be paid out to those that kill them.”

Albert, who had been glaring at Alyssa the entire time Sara spoke, finally looked away and added, “Speaking of prizes, we’re both creating a leaderboard. Or rather, we’re using the Empire’s rankings, and we’ll be giving out rewards to anyone able to take out the highest impact people on either side.”

Liz just smiled at the royals and said, “The Pathers agree. We don't mind a challenge. We mind being betrayed for personal gain.” She ended her statement with a glare to Alyssa, who just beamed back at Liz.

Out of nowhere, a man appeared, hovering in the air between the two sides. It was the army leader Colonel Thorne.

His voice boomed around the small building as he said, “The army has seen and heard the agreement. It shall be put in place effective immediately. Any further arbitration will have to be agreed upon by the three sides comprising the agreement.”

As suddenly as he appeared, he was gone.

The two royals quickly left following the pronouncement. Their act was mirrored by everyone else remaining in the hall.

Matt figured that everyone was trying to leave before the deal changed further.

Annie looked around and said, “I don't get what happened.”

Liz stomped lightly and responded, “We got helped by that bitch is what happened.”

Emily scrunched up her face and said, “I don't follow. What does that mean for our idea? Seems like we did better than the original offer. Or am I wrong?”

Liz seemed unconcerned about the points, and was still glaring at the door Alyssa had used to leave the building. “Now, we get a percentage, which should help us in the long run. It's split more, but with four percent going to the top earners, we shouldn’t see much of a difference. At least by rough calculations from the official totals. Overall, we, the Pathers’ Union, did fine. I'm more mad about that woman stepping in to help me. To make matters worse, she somehow seemed to know about our idea, and used it for her own benefit. Fuck! I hate that bitch!”

They filed out of the stuffy meeting hall with the rest of the Pathers, into the cool city air. Most were happy, but Matt heard more than a few people plotting revenge against their betrayers.

Matt didn't really care about looking like an asshole, and was trying to figure out how to pin down the clearly crafty woman, and get her to agree to a duel. No matter what Annie did to her, or how much Alyssa helped their cause, he was going to break something inside of her before the war was out.

He did take Conor’s warning to heart though, and would keep his revenge from turning into torture.

***

Sara looked over the retreating audience from the side door. Today, despite the tense atmosphere, had been very beneficial, and she was quite pleased with the result. That redheaded Pather’s little ploy had worked quite well. Her profit sharing point system effectively removed the incentives for her commanders to be greedy little shits.

What benefited the Queendom, benefited all. The only real thorn in her side was having to form a ruling council with the Pathers. But so long as the Pather representative was capable, and saw things her way, it should be a minor issue.

I expect that the redheaded Pather will be on Albie’s council at some point. What was her name again?

She checked her AI, and found the woman's profile that her people had put together. She saved a deeper look for later, only grabbing her name.

Ah, right. Elizabeth Moore. I’ll have to keep an eye on her. She seems promising.

The beneficial rule changes aside, Sara was most excited about her interactions with Albie. It was perfect, she had kept him in a call for hours, and gotten him quite relaxed around her. It had only taken a little complaining about how his Pathers had done better than hers.

Which wasn't hard to fake, as she was quite peeved about that. She was getting more Pathers than him, and the fact that they had lost in overall quality was concerning. She also had quite a great time planning ambushes for all of their back-stabbing, and handling the problematic commanders that they hadn't been able to remove.

Speaking of which, Albie had sent her a message regarding Alyssa’s ambush. The conniving snake apparently knew about the ambush, and it had to be rescheduled. Given what she knew of her, Sara wasn’t surprised that she found out.

How did she even get all those Kingdom and Pather crafters to agree to her plan?

Alyssa's scheme had been amazingly well timed, and she fully expected Albie to have his hands full with that one. It wasn't perfect on her end either, though. She now needed to find a capable and loyal representative that her crafters would accept. It was never easy to replace a chosen leader but she couldn't let Alyssa remain the public face of her crafters.

But overall, today was a good day. Except for one nagging issue Alyssa brought to light.

Why was Albie spending all of his points on mana for defensive formations this early in the game? Is he expecting a siege?

That wasn't like the Albert she knew. She corrected herself. That wasn't like the Albert she thought she knew. In every interaction she had with him, he seemed intelligent and cognizant of his situation, and how to best take advantage. It was one of the reasons why she was so enamored with him. He would make the perfect co-ruler.

Neglecting the crafters was a rookie mistake. Everyone knew that there were two kinds of people you never piss off: Healers and Crafters. No one wanted to be blacklisted from either of their services. That was why his actions confused her.

With a flick of her fingers, Sara sent a message to her intelligence team. With one last, long look at Albie’s retreating figure, she began walking back to her headquarters with a pensive look on her face.

Oh, Albie… I hope you’ll forgive me when we take everything from you.