The Path of Ascension Chapter 215

Chapter 215

As if waiting for the cue, Carol walked through the door with a bag slung over her shoulder.

“Is everyone ready?”

Matt looked at Susanne’s manager and then down to his bed and wheelchair, wondering exactly what he was going to take with them.

As Luna nodded and jumped to the other manager’s shoulder, he got his answer.

Nothing.

His oh-so-convenient wheelchair and bed were both left behind as Carol teleported them to Luna’s house. On instinct, he tried to catch himself with his Concept, but Carol was already lifting them along as Luna unlocked her front door and went inside. Matt, meanwhile, noticed his house on Luna’s lawn where he normally set it. He probably shouldn’t have been surprised, but he had been half-comatose when Luna had set it up, and hadn’t left the hospital since.

“Gather your house Matt, we’re getting out of this system as soon as possible.”

As Matt collected his house, a much easier task now that he was Tier 13, Luna recalled her own home from inside, leaving a barren patch of earth that Carol set her ship on. With a casual wave of her hand, the four of them floated through the hatch and into the lounge, while she and Luna went to the cockpit and took off. Below them, the moon and then Minkalla itself shrank away, leaving behind all the wonders and nightmares it brought.

It took them a little while to get out of the mana-draining field that Minkalla exuded, but once they had, Matt practically gasped in relief. It wasn’t truly noticeable on its own, but the sudden shock from leaving it felt like a breath of fresh air. Shortly after, he felt the twist that accompanied breaking through to chaotic space, and Luna returned, tail held high, to check in on them and get them more situated.

After about a day of travel, they returned to realspace, dropping in above a Tier 1 planet Matt had never seen before, then jetted out to the distant reaches of its solar system. Only then did Carol return from the pilot’s seat and join them in the lounge.

Luna stretched from her catnap, licking a small tuft of fur back into place, and settled into a sitting position even as she said. “I am aware from Liz that you managed to reach the core at Tier 11. Welcome to the one hundred.”

At the group’s questioning look, she further elaborated, “In the Empire’s recorded history, there have been less than a hundred people that have completed Minkalla and exited with the Tier 11 reward. Even Duke Waters didn’t manage to do it. Admittedly, he didn’t even enter Minkalla at Tier 11, but the point still stands. For that, congratulations are earned and due.”

Matt smiled at that. They had pushed themselves to the limit to try and get through the hurdles Minkalla and their fellow delvers put in their way, but in the end, they had succeeded.

Hearing Luna acknowledge that felt really good, and put him in a contemplative mood as Liz started to describe their delve.

***

Liz, by some silent agreement, spoke first, and Luna’s ears flicked as the children began recounting their delve.

“Floor one was Eternal Darkness, and honestly, everything went along with your predictions and training. The fights, while slightly more difficult because of the floor theme, weren’t anything unexpected.”

Luna resisted the urge to sigh. She had tried to beat into the children’s heads that Minkalla was dangerous, but the way they described their early encounters in Minkalla, it didn’t seem like that particular lesson took. Saying as much now would do them no favors though, and the condition their bodies were still in indicated that they had gotten the message… eventually.

Eternal Darkness was one of the most dangerous starting floors, as evidenced by the below-average survival rate from this cycle, but the kids clearly considered the floor practice. A little jaunt in a ruin with a fun twist. It spoke to their ability that it could be so simple, but she would have preferred they learn the painful lessons that would teach caution at the start.

Still, she nodded along, taking everything in until Liz mentioned that Matt had shortcut a rift by overpowering the binding on the end prize.

Luna shot Carol a look and the other manager understood.

As Liz was actively speculating, Minkalla’s tests often had multiple ways to complete them. There was always an ‘intended’ way, but the planet often included ways to outwit, circumvent, or in this case, brute force its challenges. Other times it would insist on playing by the rules, but it seemed that this time, it was content with Matt’s physical struggle.

To demonstrate, Matt pulled out the reward he’d gotten from it, a pair of gauntlets connected to a tiny black orb. As she realized what she was looking at, her ears drew back in surprise.

The core of a Tier 14 black hole.

That was….

Impressive.

And useful for someone with a opposing Concept.

She began to say something, then thought better of it, dispelling the sound waves she’d generated with a flick of her ears.

“Was the core a part of the original item?” Carol asked, to Luna’s approval.

Matt shook his head. “No, we got it on floor… six, right?”

“Fascinating,” Luna cut off Carol’s next question. “I look forward to hearing about that once you get there. That looks removable, yes?”

Matt nodded.

“Well done. A resource like that has many uses. Don’t permanently integrate it into anything without consulting Kurt or I first, and certainly don’t sell it.”

Matt nodded, and Liz took that as a cue to continue.

Given the subtle shifts Aster and Susanne gave when Liz described their encounter with Essential Civilizations and its rift development as ‘interesting,’ she assumed what truly happened was Matt found something that sparked his interest during the civilization, and promptly talked about it until only Liz could bear to listen. She made a note to message Erwin. The man was involved in some project for the Emperor, but at his Tier he would be a nonessential assistant at best and would probably jump at the chance to work with Matt again.

Her team would need new rifts, and Aperology would be an excellent way to keep them all busy with new delves.

She would need a few years to recuperate, after all, and keeping them busy and close in some isolated area would be ideal.

Liz carried on, describing their respective floor challenges, and Luna nodded at the ‘Chaser’ approach Matt and Susanne took, as well as Liz’s ‘Seeker’ tactic. Fittingly, albeit irritatingly, the challenge was best entered blind to the various ways one could modify your approach for the most fitting reward.

The ruin they had found themselves in midway through Genesis Cultivation was unusual, and its rewards matched the rarity. Their seeker compass was certainly one in a trillion, but not all that interesting in its functionality. It had a substantial range of items that it could point to- anything below Tier 14 that the user didn’t already consider to be ‘theirs’ in some sense- but it wasn’t terribly useful to any of them, save perhaps Susanne but even she would quickly out Tier it. The Seeker’s guild tended to offer a premium on such items besides, so it was unlikely they’d keep it.

The mirror and key were similar. The mirror sounded strong for its Tier, but they hadn’t tested it against a dedicated illusionist to know how it truly compared. The key, meanwhile, needed an actual keyhole to work, and that cut its utility drastically.

The three items were still incredibly strong inside Minkalla, and would probably be bought by the Empire to send in with future teams. Then, either they would lead to better rewards, or would possibly bind to someone and potentially become incredibly useful.

Their cornucopia showed no signs of being anything more than just a food-creation item, leading Luna to explain that Minkalla occasionally handed out similar rewards, a token prize and an enhancement of previous rewards, as an indication that a given challenge was complete.

Matt’s domination of the floor challenge made Luna proud, though she didn’t show it. Experimentally proving that essence could be made from pure mana was novel, albeit of limited practicality. The same thing went for making pure Aura. Interesting but not directly useful for his training. She hadn’t heard of anyone attempting it previously, but she’d have to ask Erwin about it when they met up with him again. He’d certainly know of any similar test if they were public record, and she was sure he would want to pick Matt’s mind over what little he could remember about the test.

Back to Basics was treated even more dismissively than Eternal Darkness, though even she had to privately admit that Matt having his full mana would make the floor trivial for them. Susanne’s Talaria Seed would be useful, as would Liz’s vampiric blood. Though she would ensure that their next hospital ran some tests on Liz to ensure there weren’t any long-term complications from the blood they ought to be aware of.

Liz’s voice was starting to sound rather hoarse by the time she finished explaining their strategies for the floor challenge, and Matt’s awarded AI enhancement left her feeling rather conflicted. She really didn’t like over-reliance on the damn things, but she would need to fully explore his new ability and see how best it could be utilized without becoming a crutch. Liz waved off talking any more in favor of a warm cup of tea, leaving Matt to tell of their expedient trip through Courtly Warfare.

“First, our idea was to create an autonomous reconnaissance system which we did with a number of others on Winter’s side.”

Luna nodded. It was an intelligent use of resources while not revealing too much as to his true capabilities.

Her eyes shifted to Aster as the fox took over the story, explaining how and why she entered Winter’s castle. “I felt something familiar and decided to explore, and Matt was the only one free, so he came with me. Winter was nice enough, and she gave me a boon almost immediately, which helped settle my bloodline a bit.” Her AI-created voice turned bitter as she continued. “When we left the floor, I asked her for a final floor Blood is Thicker, but she flaked on me. Though, all I really did was explore the place, which led to Matt meeting Winter.”

The fox could be flighty at times, but she had good instincts. Winter must have welcomed her, but her request to Minkalla was pointless. Floors were set at the start of the cycle, which she knew, but the young were ever wistful.

Matt sighed, filling in the details she skipped. “While Aster was passed out, Winter and I had a chat. That was when we learned the Fae forces were created with mana. I started feeding the court, with Winter concealing the output. We then used the increased production to rush down Spring and then Fall.”

As he continued telling of their time in Winter, Luna’s mind raced. Minkalla lied often, yes, but it could be very honest at times, particularly in its promises in Courtly Warfare. If it said that it was hiding Matt’s contributions, to enable him to better contribute, it was likely doing just that.

Still, discretion was the better part of valor for such things, and between his approach in Courtly Warfare and him being forced to double his mana in an all-too-public manner, it would be best to ensure that no rumors about his capabilities were circulating. The only good thing was that the four of them had rigorously tested if his mana was obvious, so she would have to go off the assumption that they were correct, and no one had noticed.

And in the end, they had proven the decision to make more foot troops was the correct one, as they were able to get out of that floor before even more people caught up with them.

Liz and Susanne spoke up from time to time to detail their individual outings, but it remained primarily Matt who told of their conquest first of Spring, and then of Fall. Their decision to attack the general was foolish, and borne of the overconfidence they’d carried through their entire delve until that point. But they all survived, and that was what mattered.

That Liz had her glove destroyed was something of a painful loss for the girl, but she was confident that Liz would be able to overcome it. The girl’s Concept only effectively applied to blood inside her own body, or previously the glove, it being bound to her spirit so closely.

Once removed from her body, it required active focus and Willpower to maintain the connection. Thus, external storage devices of the form commonly employed by water mages would be insufficient for the blood mage. Liz’s Talent enabled her to quickly assimilate external blood as ‘hers’, but when compared to the millions of gallons of blood the glove could store for her, it would take her an impossibly long time to gain control over a comparable amount of blood.

She would still be able to utilize [Blood Tidal Wave] and its ilk, of course, but losing the ability to reliably apply her Concept to them was a substantial loss in power for Liz’s Blood kinesis spells. Once they were off the Path, custom enchantments from Talented crafters could easily return her oceans of blood to her, but in the meantime, it would present a substantial obstacle to the girl.

Still, as a loss which taught them the danger of Minkalla, it was far superior to one of their lives.

It also served as a firsthand reminder of the danger of overreliance upon any one strategy. There existed a counter to every tactic, and redundancy in toolkits was essential for any Ascender. Tools were vital for any cultivator, just as surely as Domains and skills were, but the loss of a single tool shouldn’t cripple a cultivator any more than a countered skill, missing limb, or broken Domain.

Luna wasn’t happy the item was gone, but she also wouldn’t mourn its passing. It had served its purpose in both life and death, which was more than most growth items could say.

Susanne spoke up for the General’s true defeat, and while Luna wasn’t pleased that Liz had utilized her offensive blood magic in such an external and public way, Courtly Warfare proved its value once again as they spoke of how obscured the blood was in its use.

Their choice of attacking was still not something Luna was particularly proud of, but they at least had the sense to stay and finish the fight, rather than run. Hopeless battles should be fled, close ones should not, if they were to become true Ascenders. They had won, and that carried a certain level of justification for their actions. Even Liz using her blood magic. She’d rather the children be alive and needing some of their messes cleaned up rather than dead, after all.

Even from their retelling, Luna would be having words with all of them- such as Matt not anticipating an intelligent foe to dodge an attack- but their overall performance was admirable.

Even better, they all received high-quality upgrades for their growth items, new and old.

Taxing Skills slowed them, and as she had expected, they were constantly facing other delvers, having all been reset to the same stage courtesy of Courtly Warfare.

Folded Reflections slowed them down again, as was normal, and the smaller floor meant they were starting to really learn why other delvers were the true danger of Minkalla’s depths. Minkalla was a test bed for proto-Elites, and it was hardly a surprise that when outnumbered and out-Tiered, they would struggle. A group of ten was less common, but all that truly meant was that one of the Great Powers had a full squad of promising recruits they decided to send into Minkalla together.

The one fight took nearly two hours of back-and-forth, given how effectively their opponents had separated them, and Luna would be spending a substantial amount of time ensuring they’d know exactly how to proceed in a similar situation in the future. Being outnumbered by people slightly weaker than them would become a common occurrence, and they needed to learn the tactics to fight in such situations.

Matt and Liz’s voices were getting raw, so they took a break for food, then resumed to discuss the lives they each had experienced. True to form, Minkalla’s illusions were traumatic even at the best of times, and she used the opportunity to mention that she’d already coordinated a series of visits with their therapist in the coming weeks, while they were still recuperating.

Matt’s lives were interesting, but ultimately nothing unexpected. She hoped that living a full life with his family alive and Aster as his sister would help settle some of those issues once and for all, but that was ultimately a good life that shouldn’t cause any lingering issues. The other lives got progressively worse, and she knew he would need to properly process those lives before too long.

That one of them had shown him as a terrorist was surprising, but the life where he was locked in a room to provide mana had the potential to become an issue. She was grateful that Emmanuel hadn’t been placed in the role of Emperor for that life, as that could have turned into something very delicate. It was everything he feared, and that whole life had the potential for creating deep seated mental instabilities.

Aster’s lives were varied and useful for their effects, but Luna had no worries about them becoming problematic in the future. Beast bonds as a whole were a bit more resilient to those lives because of their connection to said bond.

Liz, on the other hand, was another situation altogether. From the start, Luna had some hope that her lives wouldn’t be too traumatizing, but she was quickly proven wrong, as each one seemed to strike at another facet of the woman’s fears.

Eventually, Luna had to interject after Liz’s life as a serial killer plague mage. Liz was putting up a decent front, but she’d had far too many millennia of experience to be fooled by someone who was only slightly over forty.

“Liz, while I understand those lives weren’t pleasant, don’t push them away. I haven’t been able to train you in the usage of your blood beyond fighting like, as you put it, ‘a red water mage’, not because I don’t want to, but because the resources are basically non-existent in the Empire. Either blood mages go into healing, where they are incredibly helpful, or they do reprehensible things and are executed for their crimes. Second hand documents and reports are valid resources, but are not nearly as valuable as first hand experience.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Liz snapped, her voice raw. Matt reached out to grab her hand, and she clenched it tightly enough that her hand went white.

This book’s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

“I am well aware of what blood mages do. I’m not a healer, and don’t want to be one, but everything I’ve read has shown that it’s either being a healer or being a reprehensible, utterly horrid monster that history books will at best describe as ‘unstable’. That’s why I never even wanted to delve too deep into actual blood magic in the first place, now that I think about it. Because apparently, doing so is basically an assured way to go crazy and murder entire planets! I am all too aware of what blood mages do, I see what they do every night in my dreams. What I did.”

Luna opened her mouth, but Liz charged ahead without stopping. “And don’t say that that wasn’t me. I know that it wasn’t actually me. But tell me, at what point does it even matter if it was me or someone whose head I lived in for nearly a thousand years, watching them do everything and feeling every little bit? If I start following in their footsteps-”

Liz cut herself off mid-sentence with a sharp breath and looked away, giving Matt’s hand a final squeeze and taking a deep breath. “Sorry, that was uncalled for. My next life was…”

In addition to therapy, Luna added a possible detour to see some of Liz’s family to their upcoming itinerary. Liz was broadly stable, and more than capable of overcoming her trauma once again, but Luna had made a rare misjudgment as to what Minkalla had done to the girl. It was less that she’d had an unfortunate life than it was a long-healed scar ripped up, then rubbed with salt. Multiple times at that.

She could only hope that once Liz started to use the skills she learned in those lives, she could fully put to rest the misgivings she had about them. It wasn’t untrue that blood mages often did truly reprehensible things, but there was no evidence that an elemental aspect did anything to impact personality. There were just less of them than other mana types and therefore the outliers tended to stand out more so than when a fire mage went bad.

Susanne’s lives were interesting enough, but nothing Luna particularly honed in on. She was Carol’s charge after all, and beyond some little bits of help, it was rude to interject on someone else’s Pather.

Once they finished with the lives, they moved onto the final floor and the rush they went through to get out of the free for all that the final floor turned into.