The Path of Ascension Chapter 346

Chapter 346

Matt and Shadi’s conversation ended up lasting for a full six hours before Cato’s repeated reminders that he needed to mingle with other guests finally built up to the point that Matt couldn’t ignore his duties any longer, and he made his excuses before returning to the party.

By the end of the two weeks, Matt felt like he was crawling naked over poison covered spikes, and was grateful for the Emperor’s official return. Let alone the time crunch it put on everyone who needed to return and prepare for the post-war open court.

As they walked into the Moore estate, Matt’s mood finally turned around as he saw two people he was more than happy to chat with.

Mara and Leon descended on them in an exuberant but quiet fashion, which immediately improved Matt’s mood.

It was good to see them again.

They might officially be his in-law’s, but they were the only parents he had left.

Sadly, the duo couldn’t stay too long as they were needed to help prepare the open court.

Thankfully, as Ascenders, their participation amounted to showing up and glaring at any nobles who caught their eye.

Manny did have to go and grab Allie, who had tried to avoid the open court, but as the lady of the hour, she hadn’t been allowed to skip out on the meeting. They all thoroughly enjoyed poking fun at her for her trying to run away from a Tier 50 who had her access to her Talent.

Her whining was the only entertainment they had as the Emperor listened to complaints, issues, and self aggrandizing praise from more than half of the nobles. Most of it was completely beneath him, but it was the nobles’ right to speak in open court. That said, the act of airing an issue was usually more than enough to settle said issue between the aggrieved parties. If they couldn’t figure it out on their own, that meant it was for the Emperor to get involved, and it became quickly clear why no one wanted that.

Manny was ruthless to anyone who wasted everyone’s time, and even dethroned a few nobles for their audacity to bring foolish issues before the court. On the other hand, the few who brought matters of import to his attention were greatly rewarded, though that only happened twice during the entire month-long meeting.

Then it was time for accolades to be given, and Allie’s attitude finally turned around as she was heaped with medals and trophies for her efforts in the decapitation strike on the other Great Powers.

Matt didn’t miss how a number of the nobles flinched when her ability to cross entire Great Powers was implied. Whether it was a guilty conscience or general worry, Matt found it amusing how they reacted, as it contrasted with how Allie complained the entire time about how people would now be asking for her to be a taxi now that her secret was out.

Finally, the open court ended and they were pulled into the palace on Manny’s request.

In the same office they had finished The Path of Ascension in, they sat across from Manny, who looked like Matt did when he saw how much paperwork was waiting for him.

“I even have Talents for doing paperwork, but I swear I never catch up.”

Aster gestured at it. “I can freeze it for you. Then it’s basically handled.”

Manny rubbed his temples. “I wish, but it would find its way back to my desk eventually. No, while I appreciate the offer, I’ll handle it. I just wanted to grab you three to reiterate something I’d never thought I’d need to say to Ascenders.”

His gaze turned more serious, but Matt thought he saw a glint of amusement lingering in them. “You don’t need to hesitate or worry about me. I know you all have questions about who is plotting against you, and how you should handle them, but I won’t check. And even if I did know, I wouldn’t tell you.”

Matt’s mouth clicked shut, as that was exactly what he wanted to ask.

Manny tapped the corner of his eyes that pulsed golden for a moment. “Future sight is useful, but it can all too easily become a crutch. Even I use it sparingly, but that’s still more than my Father would have found appropriate, and it’s his Talent. Do what you want to do without worrying about my larger picture.” Looking directly at Matt, he added, “If a guild, corporation, or even a noble family or twenty get in your way, and you feel the best answer is to stomp them out, then stomp. Don’t worry about ruining my plans. I trust you to do what you think is best, and that is exactly what I want you to do.”

His gaze traveled to Aster, and Matt felt like he could breathe again, despite not knowing when he had stopped. “If you find a particular bloodline still bothering you, or a corporation who tries to steal one of your flavors, do what you feel is necessary. I won’t stop you, and I’ll be there to pick up the pieces if it crumbles.”

Matt felt a pulse of worry from Aster through their bond at the mention of someone trying to steal her unique flavors, and he grabbed her tail to give it a reassuring tug.

Manny’s golden eyes tracked to Liz. “And if people from inside or outside the Empire try to put pressure on you for your bloodline or your noble choices, show them exactly what you are capable of. I’m here to hold up the sky, so don’t consider bowing your head because you think it might be an issue for me. That goes for all of you.”

Manny’s serious expression vanished as he laughed. “I think this might be the first time any Tier 50 has had to remind their Ascenders to do what they want, but it’s damn refreshing. Usually I’m begging, bribing, or beating them to not cause too many issues. I trust you kids, but that’s not because I think you will be perfect. It’s because I believe in your core characters. You will make mistakes. You will fail. People will suffer because of the choices that you make because you aren’t perfect, but take it from someone who can see the alternatives… people will always suffer. All we can do is learn from our mistakes and try to make fewer of them next time. There is no perfect option, and remember that taking time to think and consider is itself a decision you’re making. Myself and the Royals are here to clean up messes more than anything else.”

After glancing at the stacks of paper, Manny stood and brushed his pants before looking at Matt and Liz. “You two probably need to hurry. The Republic is bringing your first planet sooner than they said. A change in chaotic space currents has let them speed up the delivery. As for you, Aster, your first planet has a little time so you can do whatever you want.”

Aster nodded and tossed a ball of flame onto Manny’s desk, shocking all of them. It failed to light any of the high-tier papers on fire, but a couple of reports did collapse into ash.

Manny cackled. “Ah, see, this is why I love Ascenders. I genuinely did not see that coming.”

His laughter was still echoing in the room as he vanished a moment later.

Aster looked sheepish as she shrugged. “I thought he’d block it if he really didn’t want them burnt. And like he said, it will make its way back to his desk.”

Matt snorted and ruffled his bond’s hair. “You going to stick with us and check our first planet, or do you have something else to do?”

“I don’t want to spoil my first planet, so I’ll wait until my planet arrives. Besides, I can use this time to put together an end of the war ice cream to celebrate. I’m thinking a variation of that almond flavor I made a few years ago.”

Matt had liked that flavor and said so as they walked through the palace to where they caught back up with their seneschal’s.

After saying their goodbyes, Aster flew off with Alice floating next to her. Their duchies were going to be placed next to each other, so they would see each other sooner than later. That just left Matt, Liz, Cato, and Isabella to go to their Horizon class cruise ships that had been docked in orbit since they completed The Path.

They played a quick game that Matt lost, so they boarded Liz’s ship while Matt’s traveled next to them as they moved to the spot where their duchy would be.

Almost two months later, they arrived at one of the closer borders. They were on the frontier border, which meant they would be the nearest planets to unclaimed chaotic space as their duchy filled in, but they were also close to the border regions of the other Great Powers, which made the upcoming transfers easier to carry out. It was just a matter of unlinking the planet from its neighbors and nudging its drift towards their location in chaotic space, which, so long as nothing went wrong, was just a matter of releasing the planets at the right time. They were still getting their fair share of border worlds, of course, but for a variety of reasons, a substantial number of their planets were arriving from afar.

Amusingly enough, Lily arrived before Soerilia thanks to the efforts of a Tier 40 who took advantage of those same currents. As the teleportation nodes were already built planetside, it was fairly easy to retie Lily and its universe into the Empire’s network, and the Tier 40 did it in just a few minutes. Once the teleportation tether was established, a tether of golden white energy pulsed through chaotic space, preventing the world from drifting off.

It wasn’t hard, thankfully, the design being long standardized and almost automatic with the caster only needing to be able to connect the two planets’ representations in chaotic space with their spirit. Matt or Liz could have managed to do it, but the Tier 40 was happy to assist and it would have been rude to say no.

Matt and Liz only intended to pop into Lily long enough to check in with Baroness Margaret Thresh, but they were pleasantly surprised to find Countess Abigail Sural waiting with the baroness in her baronial palace.

With their Tier advantage, neither he nor Liz were noticed, and with a glance, they slowed their approach from orbit to inspect the rest of the planet.

“They are celebrating you.” Liz leaned in and whispered in a way that sent a shiver down Matt’s spine.

Phoenix Liz tried to edge in, but got brushed off his shoulder by human Liz.

It was never not amusing to him how Liz treated her two main bodies as separate entities, despite them both sharing a singular mind.

Matt hadn’t mentioned it, but it was a clear fiction similar to how her parents acted around family. He found it adorable and knew any mention of being like her parents would make her self conscious.

And she wasn’t wrong. Lily was celebrating and seemed like it had been for the last few weeks, if not longer. The planet wasn’t trashed, but the remnants of a prolonged celebration was clear from the overflowing trash cans and inebriated people napping in the soft glow of the moon or under the shade of trees, depending on where on the planet they were.

If Matt had any question of what they were celebrating, it was answered by the numerous banners that proclaimed the Matthew Moore duchy, seemingly strung up between every other opening.

It made him incredibly uncomfortable, but Matt hoped this extravagance meant they had gotten the worst of the partying out of their systems.

Flying down to the not so new capital, Matt and Liz pinged Margaret that they were arriving and to please lower the wards. They could have just slipped through, but that would have been incredibly rude and stomping over Margaret’s autonomy as the reigning noble of the planet.

Neither he or Liz wanted to be the type of duke who would do that, and it would make an awful first impression for the soon to be Marchioness Sural, if her presence meant she was taking them up on their offer.

As they entered the entertaining room, Margaret and Abigail stood and bowed, but Liz waved them up before they could go through the full greetings.

“We are in private, please be at ease and forgo the formalities.” Her smile turned into a grin as she nodded to the world beyond. “We saw that the planet seems happy about the change in location.”

Margaret flushed slightly and eventually shrugged with an exacerbated sigh. “Crazy how a home grown Ascender taking their home planet into their duchy will make people go a little wild.”

Matt rubbed a hand through his hair even as both Lizzes laughed. “Ah well, nothing I can do about that. How are you settling into the new location? The connection to Fal’sal seems to work properly.”

“Well enough, I have exchanged a few messages with Baron Ren’kai but he felt it was better to wait for an in-person visit until your graces had settled in?”

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There was a lilt in the last sentence that implied a question, and Matt nodded to confirm. “We’d like to use Lily as our base of operation until our actual duchy comes in, so long as you agree.”

“We would be honored, My Lord.” Margaret seemed genuine, so Matt continued.

“In addition, I’d like to set up a guild research spot somewhere.” Seeing Margaret open her mouth about to offer way too much, Matt added, ”We don’t need much. I was going to expand one of the islands in the southern hemisphere. That way, we are out of the way but can still do rift testing. This is still your world, and neither of us want to interfere with your rule.”

Margaret nodded and a small smile crept over Abigail’s face, which reminded Matt of her presence.

Liz, however, spoke first. “It is good to see you, Countess Sural. We take your presence here as your acceptance of our offer?”

Abigail turned a nod into a formal bow. “If the offer is still valid, I will gladly accept. I have already cleared the transfer with Duchess Felicity and have her provisional release and a younger cousin ready to take my throne.”

Matt clapped softly. “Wonderful. Then I—”

Before he could finish, phoenix Liz ‘accidentally’ smacked him in the face as Liz finished his sentence. “I bid you rise, Marchioness Sural. With your rise in rank, we remind you that said rank is to be used for the betterment of the Empire.”

After shooting a dirty look at phoenix Liz, who just groomed a feather as if she didn’t see him, Matt repeated the same thing, completing the ceremony.

As Marchioness Sural rose, Margaret congratulated her. “You deserve it.”

Abigail demurred. “We’ll see. It’s a major step up that I will have to work to ensure I don’t waste. I stand ready to be commanded, your graces.”

Matt shrugged her comment away. “It’s not like we have any planets for you to control yet. You are free to do as you wish until then.”

“Then let me act to reign in your soon to arrive vassals. A firm hand will be needed to keep them in line until they have their own lands.”

After sharing a glance with Liz, Matt looked to Cato and Isabella, confirming the assignment.

As the formalities were handled, things settled into a more informal mood and the four of them chatted after Cato and Isabella took their leave to finish settling and preparing for the arrival of Soerilia.

It took another month and a half for Matt and Liz to feel the approach of the world, even while inside Lily’s real space. The presence of another world moving through chaotic space was like the rising tide, and anyone with enough range could sense the turbulence.

After saying their goodbyes to Margaret and Abigail, Matt and Liz ripped their way into chaotic space, with Cato and Isabella following them a moment later.

The four of them waited as a small firefly of light moved closer and closer through the corrosive energies of chaotic space.

Planets with essence became dots of light, embers, or fireflies of light in the swirling darkness that was chaotic space and were typically called a world. Most worlds were their own entire universes, but that was only because a world was created when life on a planet reached the critical mass of mana for essence to form within the core of the world. That didn’t mean only a single world could exist in a universe at a time. You could travel to another star system in real space, create a new essence planet, and therefore another spark in chaotic space. It’s just extremely unlikely that the new node would be usefully close to anything in chaotic space, and they were entirely separate entities. That was the basis of real space crossings, which were used to cross great distances of chaotic space via traveling to a nearby real space star system that was one of the rare exceptions

The term ‘world’ was generally the accepted one because, thanks to the ability to have multiple planets in a single star system, it was more appropriate to use the more generic term. But they were used so interchangeably that ‘node’ had been coming into fashion for any world that was linked into the greater whole of the eight intertwined Great Powers.

Moving a world in chaotic space didn’t change its location in its local universe, and was generally not dangerous, but mishandling by someone a high enough Tier from the outside could all too easily destroy the local star system.