The Path of Ascension

Liz hoisted the two drunks as she made her way through the underwater auction house to the platforms that would take them to the surface.

She didn't like Alyssa, but the woman was in a pretty bad state. She originally thought the woman was faking it when she barged into their room, but as Liz carried her she got a whiff of the woman. She positively reeked of booze. Even for a Tier 7, the woman was well beyond drunk, and well into hammered.

Her bloodline still thrummed with oppression due to Alyssa’s purer bloodline, but she shoved that down to walk her back home. The imposing presence whenever she was around Alyssa put her in a constant state of anxiety. Bloodline suppression was something that she never thought she would have to cope with, but spending time with Alyssa during the council meetings had slowly helped her adjust to the feeling. At this point, it wasn’t very difficult to ignore.

They were on the surface when Liz finally said something. “You’re lucky I’m willing to drag you all the way home.”

“Not as lucky as you are. Such a lucky little bird.”

Liz looked around for a moment before realizing that Alyssa had been the one to answer her. Both the condescension and overly friendly attitude had been absent from her voice. The woman almost sounded sincere.

Liz warily asked, “How so?”

Alyssa just laughed as if it was the funniest joke, even as she stumbled in an attempt to walk on her own.

“It's nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

Liz didn’t let it drop. “No, really. Explain. And why are you this drunk? In all our late night council meetings I’ve never even seen you take so much as a sip of the complementary wine. You being this hammered is out of character.”

Alyssa gave Liz a long look before she replied, “Out of character. Yeah, how right you are. I just found out I’m getting married to a handsome young Count from the Empire.”

“Congratulations?” Liz responded with a questioning lilt. “It’s what you wanted right? To move up in the nobility. Play the game. Gather political power.”

“Not this way. Not by selling my bloodline. It makes sense to use it as a lure to gain power, but I am more than my bloodline. When I pushed back and told my parents I would rather die than play their game, they lost their minds. Called me ungrateful and everything else under the seven suns.”

Liz was taken aback at that. She had put Alyssa in the same category as the rest of those social schemers that she was unfortunate enough to deal with when she was younger. The type that would do anything and anyone to get ahead. She figured Alyssa would jump at the chance to marry up, given how she flaunted all the gifts she had received from other suitors. Apparently, she had the wrong idea.

Perhaps I’ve been too harsh?

“You must know what it is like? I can feel your bloodline. Mine is perfect, better, but yours is close. Plus, I know a noble education when I see one, even in the way you hold yourself. I'd bet everything and anything that you had just as many people sniffing around you as I had.” She tripped on nothing, and Liz paused as Alyssa ominously held her hand to her stomach. “You joined the Path, though.”

Alyssa panted for a moment at Liz’s lack of response before she got herself under control and tried to walk. She tilted so far, Liz had to scoop her back up and start guiding her again.

“I didn't get that lucky.”

Liz hesitantly asked, “If they were just trying to sell you, that would violate the Empire's laws. You can't be forced into a marriage against your will.”

The drunk Tier 7 barked a mocking laugh. There was no humor in it, only pain. “Forced? No, but pressured...? Absolutely. They are my parents, after all. And oh, how they pressure. And how little I’ll be left with if I refuse. No money, no home, no title, no protection. Besides, you think the Empire really enforces its laws in the Kingdom? Has no one told you about the ‘privileges’ given to the high nobles here over the commoners? The royals aren’t even subtle about it, and yet not once has your great, benevolent Empire even bothered to sniff around. They couldn’t care about any of us. Now... if you would excuse me for a moment.”

Alyssa jolted to the side to finally empty her stomach into a bush. The acrid stench rolled over Liz and Aster like a wave. Even while unconscious, Aster squirmed to get away.

Wiping her mouth, Alyssa said, “Much better. Honestly, I shouldn't have such a pure bloodline. My mother and father are both third-generation Peacocks. No, no, no, I should have been a normal human. By some fluke, I popped out with a completely pure bloodline. Perfectly, freakishly pure. A curse more than a blessing, really. The vultures were circling from day one, and my parents only worried about finding the highest bidder. Duke Asfodel’s Tier 17 son is now in the lead, after I rejected the Count. So, I might actually be headed to your precious Beast Kingdom. Not that I’ll ever leave their estates. But my parents could care less.”

She scoffed, then groaned. “Fucking worthless. They can't even break through Tier 14 and become real immortals. Their clocks were already ticking down when I was born. They were desperate, and fate simply handed them the prize they needed. That's why it was a fucked up thing to remove me from command. Especially after all the free bits of help I kept giving the Pather Union. I only asked for a favor in return when you wanted something really big.”

Liz shook her head, even though the other woman couldn't see it. “Albert would have never given you a Barony. Not after how you try to counter him at every turn.”

Alyssa gave Liz a sardonic look. “It was worth a shot at least. Rumor had it that Albert had a title or two for the new planets tucked away in his back pocket, ready to motivate the generals or buy an important traitor with. He was desperate enough to get that Shard of Reality to give a barony to anyone. Even me. Figured if I paired a big accomplishment with a promise to step out of his way, he might bite. You’re probably right though, that ship sailed a long time ago.” She shrugged. “But once you pick a side, it's not easy to change.”

Liz felt sympathetic, but worried that this was just a ploy to garner said sympathy. Either the woman was a controlled drunk, or she was playing her. Were it not for the vomit and boozy stench still clinging to the woman, she wouldn't have picked out drunkenness as the source of her sudden personality shift. Alyssa didn't even slur her words. The question was, just how used to being drunk was she?

Maybe she was getting a view into the actual Alyssa.

“Why not leave for the Beast Kingdom? With your bloodline, you could have found a sponsor to one of the royal academies. I was offered a spot, and it boasts one of the best educations in the Empire, along with rifts for advancement all the way up to Tier 14.”

Alyssa scoffed in response. “Sure, then throw myself into the arms of a random benefactor who would have just as much control as my parents, but even less reason to care about my well-being.” She spat off to the side. “No, I’ll make it to the Beast Kingdom when I'm Tier 15 and can play the political game for real. Then I’ll be an adult by any standards. Only then will I be able to show them how wrong they were.”

“There are a lot of strong people there, and not everyone is as civilized as they could be. Without a backer...” Liz didn't know how to say the woman's idea was pipe dream politely.

Alyssa snorted in a less than ladylike manner. “So what? Hardly any different than here.”

After a few more minutes of guiding the shuffling girl, they arrived at Alyssa’s room. It wasn't what Liz expected, though she couldn't have explained why it felt off. It was a simple room. The only addition that seemed from the woman herself was a multicolored bedspread.

Otherwise, the room was the same as the one she and Matt shared, just not connected to others in a suite. Though, she did notice a dark smoke stain over the closet. A remnant from Annie’s act of arson.

Right where her own side table was, she gently set down Aster before maneuvering Alyssa over to her bed.

As Liz dropped the drunk woman onto her bed and yanked off a boot, she thought over what Alyssa had said. When she was done with the first one, she asked, “If you were nicer, you would have more allies. You had never even met my team and backstabbed us. If you do the same to your own side, it's no wonder they aren't very happy with you. You killed how many generals exactly?”

Alyssa scoffed as she covered her eyes. “I didn't kill shit. All I did was use the Queendom's plans and get myself in the right position to take advantage. Or at least try to. Their plan was to remove the competent generals and then slowly siege down the city, while sending massive forces to kill off most of Albies' troops. Little did they know, Olivia was smarter than all the generals they killed combined.”

That surprised Liz. It also piqued her interest. Alyssa had proven herself an apt political player, but that was information that she really shouldn't know, so Liz pushed slightly.

“So you didn't kill the generals?”

Alyssa rolled over and buried her face in a pillow. “If I had the influence and resources to pull that off, I wouldn’t need a barony to escape my parents. No, I only sent the message to Happer that his mistress was cheating. He's in an unhappy arranged marriage, and actually loved the girl. I felt bad for him. It's not my fault that he sucks at combat, and Misty’s other boytoy didn’t. Timing was just lucky.”

“Still, being nice to people rarely hurts.” Liz was surprised that the woman had cared enough to try to help someone, even if she then tried to publicly make it seem like a master plan. It wasn’t who she thought the woman was.

Alyssa's next words dashed any hope she had for the woman being a nice person. “Like I need to attract even more dumbass suitors. None of the twits around here matter anyway. A bunch of useless losers.”

Seeing that the woman was resigned to being a dick, Liz scooped up the passed-out Aster off the table as she said, “Don't sleep on your back. You might choke to death.”

“I know how to sleep drunk.” There was half a heart beat pause when she added, “But your boyfriend might die. Talous finally got his wish.”

Only a second later, Liz received a message from Annie confirming Alyssa’s statement, and an attached recording of the insults to both her and Aster, then Matt's parents.

She put Aster down into Alyssa’s arms and raced out of the room. She didn't like the woman, but she wasn't evil enough to hurt a sleeping beast bond.

She had the fight streaming to her AI as she tore her way down the halls and into the street. Even as she grabbed a taxi to reach the loading platforms quicker, she watched as Matt was cut repeatedly.

Liz had every intention of making Talous pay for the slanderous things he had said. Emily had filled her in, and seeing the flat angry look in her boyfriend's eyes as he turned to attack Talous filled her with rage.

Win or lose. She was going to make Talous pay.

When she arrived at the platform loading and unloading area, she nearly tore her hair out, seeing the massive line.

She needed to get down there now. She didn't doubt that Matt would win, and she knew that she’d have to do damage control if things were as bad as she feared. His parents were a very sore spot for Matt, and she wouldn't forgive Talous for poking it.

***

Malous stood there as he watched his brother's mutilated body vanish. He had let his attention slip, and the fool had run off to challenge Matt in another misguided attempt to get his Concept.

That was fine. Annoying, but fine.

Talous losing? Probably for the best, honestly.

What wasn't acceptable was the fight not ending when it was clearly over. His brother should have been pulled out after the first punch to the ribs.

Malous could see his brother's ribcage crumple and flatten with each extra strike. That was far too long to allow the fight to proceed.

It was incompetence. Or deliberate interference.

He looked at his team and saw the same looks. They all suspected that the referee and army watchers were playing favorites.

Malous turned to leave. Without a word, his team followed him to the platforms that would take them out of there. His brother needed him, and he had to do damage control while investigating who had let the fight drag on so long.

He and his brother didn't have the best relationship before joining The Path, but they were closer now, and he really didn't care for seeing him punished over something so minor. The already brutal loss should have been enough.

The watchers and referee should have been impartial.

As his blood began to boil, Malous tried to decide how to handle this. Someone needed to be held accountable.

***

Luna smiled as she watched the broken body vanish. Her notes hovering nearby were filled with critiques, but she was happy.

Matt had thoroughly impressed her. He had resisted the referee’s standard attempts to remove Talous long enough that the army watchers stepped in before the referee could do so physically. The referee didn't have the skill to extract Matt’s opponent without destroying his Concept; it was still long enough to get in a few more blows. He was so angry, he probably had no idea that he had accidentally locked down the space around him, preventing the referee from executing their standard removal procedure.

The Talous boy would be fine too. She had seen his type many times before. Knowing he wasn’t the best would just motivate him more. He would come back stronger if he didn’t let this get to him. Plus, countless people that she’d mentored would have taken a thousand of those beatings for their Concepts. One day, he’d count himself as the clear winner here.

From someone with his Talent, drive, and proficiency with a blade, she expected good things. She even had a pile of notes ready for his manager when he inevitably got his own team at Tier 10.

Her tail swished, and she couldn't wipe the grin from her face.

Her new protege just kept surprising her.

Oh, she was going to mold Matt into a monster.

***

Conor watched as Matt dueled Talous, and winced at the earliest stages of the fight. Matt was raging, and it showed in his combat style.

He hated to admit it, but Talous was good with his chosen weapons. Better than anyone else Conor had personally met.

As the fight progressed, he had to reevaluate Matt several times. He had fought and dueled the man in training, as well as fought beside him dozens of times. For all their time together, he still underestimated the man and his willpower to fight.

He flat-out refused to go down.

There was something in that tenacity that he could learn from. Conor wasn't the best. He knew that. But he was good. Maybe he didn't need to be the best; he just needed to outlast everyone else. With his defensive style, it wasn't the worst idea.

Conor took note of the way Talous moved for his own purposes. He was a more defensive fighter, but he still wanted to try replicating a few of his moves with his shield later while sparring. They both used a single handed weapon and a shield, after all.

Annie leaned over and cheered as Matt kicked Talous’ leg out from under him. Conor took a moment to double-check their wagers, now that the fight was turning.

The initial odds had leaned slightly in Matt's favor, as he had won their first encounter. But during the beginning of the duel, Talous had clearly been taking the upper hand. After a sudden onslaught by Talous a few minutes in, the odds shifted heavily in his favor. At that peak, shortly before betting was closed, Matt winning offered a two-to-one payout.

Annie dropped every single point she had on Matt. Conor had put all but two points in the fight, and transferred the other to Annie. If she died with no points, she was out of the war, and it was better to be safe rather than sorry.

A few minutes later, Emily had arrived and done the same. Her tardiness had actually netted her a much better payout, since Talous had become the major favorite. At the end of the fight, they cashed out with nearly two hundred thousand extra points.

It was a nice reward, but it was quickly soured. When Matt deactivated his armor, his clothes fell away in bloody strips, showing the damage inflicted on their friend. His body had more bloody gashes than unharmed flesh.

The sight of him spoiled their good cheer. They rushed to their teammates' side, but were held back by the referee as a healer rushed forward.

Matt was quickly treated. A week-long healing cooldown was prescribed, but the healer didn't seem overly worried.

Matt was clearly out of it. He looked off into space until Emily asked if he was okay. The question seemed to bring him back to the present.

***

With a shake, Matt stood up and nodded. “Sorry, guys. He really pissed me off... I was stuck in my own head for a minute there.”

That was an understatement, but he wasn’t going to tell them that he had snapped at the repeated insults, and was about to kill the man. The only reason he hadn't gone for the man's head was that he wanted the pain to last. He was afraid that if he damaged his head, the army would step in before he could dish out the sort of agony that he wanted Talous to feel.

Matt laughed like it wasn't serious, but he could feel his eyes still flat, despite his voice's forced cheer.

Annie didn't seem to notice and lightly elbowed the man. “Great fight, and we won an assload of points from betting on you.”

“Oh, that's good.”

He wasn't sure what else to say. Regardless, he was happy for them. The more points they had, the stronger they were.

His AI notified him that his winnings from the duel were transferred. He was entitled to 30% of the house’s take. It was an enormous sum, a little under 750K points.

They tasted like ashes. He hadn't fought for the points—he fought because he got angry, and Talous’ smug attitude only made it worse as they fought.

The points were tainted, and he didn't want anything to do with them.

“Hey Annie, how close are you to buying [Side Slide]?”

She was startled, but he spoke before she could say anything else. “Here, take the points I won from the fight and see how close that gets you.”

He was relieved when they were out of his point balance. It felt like a weight off his shoulders.

Annie spluttered, “Matt, I can't take these. It's just too much.”

Without ruining the mood, he tried to explain. “Annie, I didn't fight for the points, and I really don’t want them. Just take them, please.”

She turned to her sister and pleaded, “I need one hundred thousand points. Pleaseeee.”

With an eye roll that could only come from family, Emily flicked a finger at her sister, transferring the points over.

Annie poked at her AI’s interface, and a second later, the listing for [Side Slide] disappeared. A nondescript skill shard sat in the air directly in front of her.

She turned and hugged Matt. “Oh, thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

With a smooth motion, she snapped it into a band around her wrist to ensure it couldn't be stolen during the time it took to absorb the skill. As soon as it was in place, she started to dance right there.

Seeing his friend so happy helped to thaw Matt out of his icy mood a bit..

Talous had irritated him with the insults to his friends, but when he’d attacked his parents, Matt snapped. He shouldn't have. Compared to the disgusting slander Talous had stooped to before, that final comment had been rather tame. It had just rubbed him the wrong way.

He wasn't happy with his actions. He should have walked away from the fight. It was dumb and unnecessary, while also playing into Talous’ own plans.

Matt wasn't dumb. When he felt the Queendom Pather form his own Concept, he understood that was Talous’ plan from the outset. The realization that Talous had used Matt’s dead parents as a ploy to earn his own Concept still burned at his gut.

He wanted to rip the new Concept away from the man. It felt like he had stolen it from his parents' graves.

As Emily and Annie bickered playfully, he met Conor’s eye and nodded slightly to him. The man gave him a concerned look that he appreciated, despite wishing he noticed less. Right now, he didn't want to deal with questions of a more delicate nature.

All he wanted to do was relax.

Liz’s messages blinked at him from the corner of his eye, and he read through them. They were mostly asking if he was ok. Clearly, she had seen the duel.

Her last message said that she was coming down as soon as she could get a shuttle. He messaged her back, telling her to wait.

He was going home now, whether the others were or not.

The bustle and cheer of the auction house didn’t sit well with Matt. On the platform above, he could already see people cheering for him. If he left the auction house, he could get away from most of this.

Having made up his mind, Matt said, “Hey guys, I'm going to meet up with Liz. Why don't you continue the party? Enjoy yourselves.”

Even Annie, who was in her own world, stopped to give Matt a weird look.

Conor slapped his shoulder, “Nah. The last thing you need is to be alone right now. We'll all go back up. We’re a team.”

There was a finality to that statement that was comforting. Emily pulled him to his feet and patted his back. “We aren't assholes like Talous. If you want to talk, or even be alone, let us know. But we aren't going to let you run off on your own after something set you off so badly.”

That brought a real smile to Matt. He might not have any blood relations left, but he had a family.

***

Sara lurked next to the chamber where Albert was using his Shard of Reality. A special item let her seamlessly blend into a large potted plant in the room. An actual fortune, most of her very generous allowance from her childhood, had been paid to a Tier 12 crafter to make it. But it would fool any Tier 7 not specialized in breaking illusions.

She was getting desperate, and needed to make her move. Two days had passed since the auction, and Albert should be coming out any moment.

She was doing this personally, as she could only trust herself to handle this particular mission. The Queendom’s next moves depended on this fight. On taking out most of the Kingdom leadership in one fell swoop. The massive reward for personally killing her rival commander was secondary.

Half an hour later, Juni approached with a contingent of guards.

Seeing him caused Sara to stop and reevaluate. Juni should have been in there with Albert. Their spies had seen him enter the formation, and no one had seen him for the last week.

It could only mean one thing. The man already had his Concept.

That hampered her plans. By every report, Juni was loyal and strong. His performance in the war so far had been stellar. If he could perform at that level even with his Concept hidden, then he might be able to prevent this assassination with it.

With a steadying breath, Sara refocused her mental well being. She could die for this kill. Her orders were given and plans already in motion. Her people could make due, as long as Albert was unable to give orders or buy upgrades to his cities. She had already spent all her sides points in the perpetration phase.

The Queendom needed a win, and they needed it now if their larger plans were to succeed.

The door swung open, and she tensed her hand with the specially made storage ring for her lance. The ring would be useless when she Tiered up and got a new weapon, but she needed the utility right now. Speed was of the essence, and a six-foot lance would be too large to quickly draw.

When Albert stepped out, she targeted him with her Tier 1 Talent. As he was well within her fifteen-foot range, she immediately teleported to his side.

She didn’t thrust at him or attack him with her lance. She didn’t even summon it from her ring. The man was too well armored for that to guarantee a kill. No, she stuck an explosive to his face. Even as it made contact, she changed her Talent’s target and, with an effort of will, appeared beside them fifteen feet away.

The bomb detonated almost instantly. A shock-wave rocked the hall that threatened to blow out her eardrums. Her AI pinged to report the death of the enemy vassal's leader with a fanfare of color and points. Doing it herself merited a million points. Better yet they were personal points with no restrictions on their use.

Now, she just needed to sever the last of the hydra’s heads.

The only important survivor was Juni. When he stood up and caught her eye, madness stared back at her. Bits of debris scarred his face and blood poured from his ears, but he looked manic. At the sight of her, he lunged with a gravity assisted leap.

The gravity around Sara multiplied a dozen times, and the surprise almost caused her to stumble, but she changed her target and teleported out of the range. Her spirit was on fire from changing targets so many times and so quickly, but seeing Juni’s stick land on her previous location with an explosion of stone, she forced the pain down.

That blow might have ended her. She checked her AI’s combat evaluations. Her mother had gifted her a nearly perfect copy of her own AI skill, just scaled down to work for a Tier 3. It’s starting capabilities were massively beyond what the typical blank slate AI began with.

The AI assured her she could win this fight, if she didn't fuck up. With her emergency backup plan, she could win even without a fight. But that had other costs.

Juni immediately lowered her chances by half as a wave of gravity sent everyone around them flying. With no one else in range, Juni was the only viable target for her Talent. Which he no doubt wanted.

With his gravity manipulation, fighting in close quarters was ill-advised.

Sighing, she resigned herself to using the backup plan. This was something she’d only readied in case the bomb didn’t finish her Albie. A last resort.

Sara removed her belt and tossed it to the ground, where it started spewing smoke, and moved left to dodge a thrown knife.

This needed to happen quickly. Reinforcements were no doubt on their way, and it would be dumb to die from archers while trying to kill a secondary target.

Under the concealment of the smoke, she targeted Juni and teleported directly in front of him. Her lance's thrust felt slow as molasses as she tried to push through the repulsive force emanating from him. As her weapon nearly stopped, she activated the enchantment on her lance’s head. In a blue explosion, a Tier 8 mana stone between the shaft and head discharged. The front of her weapon bulleted forward, covering the needed distance while simultaneously supercharging the piercing enchantment on the tip.

Her beloved weapon was destroyed, but as she walked out of the now normalized gravity zone to confirm her kill, she found Juni standing there with her lance through his chest. He was still standing somehow.

With a sudden manic grin, he brought his stick down at her head.

The deactivation of his gravity field had been bait.

Sara rolled backward and drew her daggers from her back sheaths, but the tip of the weapon caught her in the head even as she tried to avoid it. She felt the bone crack, but ignored it as the split skin wasn't leaking blood into her eyes.

She was ready to fight.

Thankfully, she didn't need to. Juni disappeared just seconds later, as he moved forward to engage her. The watchers must have decided the lance head through his chest was life-threatening enough to warrant removal. Him holding still was probably the only thing keeping the bleeding in check enough.

Seeing the Kingdom guards rushing her, she dashed down the other hall to an exterior wall. With a final burning effort, she targeted the man waiting outside of the building and teleported next to him.

As soon as she was outside, she sprinted to where her own people were waiting and checked the reports coming in.

Her armies were in their places and making their moves. The ambush teams for the Kingdom’s top Pathers were already engaging. Two armies that had been moving in the open were already engaged and encircled.

Things were finally looking up.

Now she needed to focus on their other plan. It needed to go well, just as much as this one had. She checked her timer. Two weeks and six days.

That was when they would end this war.

And they would be taking far more from the Kingdom than the prizes. Hopefully, Albert would forgive her one day.