The Path of Ascension Chapter 409

Chapter 409

Liz and Allie came back just a month after Melinda’s testing got off its feet, but with less than stellar results from their own raids.

The few results they had gotten from Raffi’s data storage had proven to mostly be dead ends. Not because the leads Titan’s Torch’s spies found were bad, but because all of the people had vanished within days of his capture.

Not that they would let that stop them. Esmeralda immediately led an effort to try and cross reference the disappearances as they found the missing people, wanting to track the possible messages via portal openings. Hopefully that would help find a central coordinator. But, even from just five people identified, it seemed a futile effort with their hidden enemy having prepared for such a possibility.

Though their efforts weren’t fruitless. Looking deeper into the identified members and backtracking when and who they interacted with, their spies were able to find more information. In one instance, they were even able to recover an entire handwritten report one agent failed to adequately destroy, which was a treasure trove of information.

Still, there was only so much they got out of the leads before that source dried up.

Upon hitting the first road block they didn’t give up, but they did put a pin in that method of investigation and started digging into alternatives.

Aster and Susanne had the most to show for their efforts, as they were able to locate one of the rabble rousers who had been spreading the idea that Aster’s initiative to break the winter wolves’ hold over ice and winter-based bloodline materials was futile.

Donus, the person in question, didn’t seem to have any connection to the winter wolves, but they had only just started digging. Not all of the connections were so obvious. Raising disposable and untraceable pawns wasn’t a new tactic, and if a quick background check would reveal them, they wouldn’t be very useful.

Though, it was still possible he wasn’t working for the winter wolves, but instead for the society who had, for some reason, decided to strike out at Aster through one of the more obvious avenues, hoping that they would attack the wolves, making themselves a new enemy.

He would not be getting off scot-free just because he didn’t have obvious support. For the attempted obstruction of a duke’s direct initiatives, they were holding him for at least a century unless he started talking. They wanted to hold him longer, or use harsher methods, but that was the limit of what they could do with his level of crime. It wasn’t perfect, but Matt at least took pleasure in knowing they were wasting Donus’ time and keeping him from completing missions for his master.

They were still making progress via hunting down leads, but it was slow and they feared it would eventually peter out.

Their major breakthrough came through an unexpected source, just a year or so after Matt’s return to Empire space.

Esmeralda, after exhausting their obvious leads and being unable to find a coordinated messaging hub, turned her attention to the data they had recovered, namely the targets of the society’s members instead of the society members themselves.

While the society was extremely thorough in destroying data relevant to their inner workings, the info about their targets wasn’t deleted with quite the same meticulousness. That allowed them to rebuild a good portion of it, giving them a fairly extensive look into the society’s inner workings of how they operated and how they chose targets even if they didn’t know the society in question.

Said society, though rarely, gave their people targets, wanting to leverage a specific member’s strengths. It was then up to the society member to complete the mission in question. Sometimes, missions were as simple as gathering information or using already gathered information to blackmail, pressure, or nudge people or events into the direction they wanted. Meanwhile, others were more brutal and direct, going as far as assassinations, though those were notably rare.

Some missions were to do things as obscure as helping one business over another, though the how differed. A society member who worked in the media, given that order, would ensure a story about the business was published in a slightly better location or in a better time slot. A business society member, on the other hand, might be expected to buy from the company in question over others.

On a surface level, it all seemed to make sense, until Esmeralda pointed out that there was no guarantee that the society moving to help a business was an indicator that said business was part of their network. Apparently, propping up a business, then removing those same supports to destroy it, was a common enough tactic for the societies. Or just supporting a third party to hurt a competitor indirectly.

Not that this unknown society was so controlling and demanding. The society also allowed their members to do their own thing and make their own plays, either alone or with each other, and, according to the logs they recovered, these self-directed tasks were far more common. Members would pass messages through a still unconfirmed method, looking for expertise in a field, and others would then reach out through the society and be put in contact with each other.

It was those threads they had tried to pull when chasing down people to no avail.

It all seemed needlessly convoluted, but Matt focused on the important bit: the targets of the recovered society members.

Matt’s initial thought was to start moving to counter the society’s moves, but even he knew that was a fool’s errand.

No, once they were done with the information, it would all be forwarded to Harper and the Empire’s spies to do with as they would as the organization was in a much better place to play shadow games with the society.

Instead, they started looking at the targets, and for anyone useful to them who might lead them to a new breakthrough.

It took weeks of data recovery and encryption breaking, but they stumbled upon gold.

One of the agents had identified, and was looking for help to start blackmailing, a Tier 45 member of the Keepers of The Golden Age.

According to the report the spies put together, the person in question was Nardo da Molin, a Tier 45 who had been one of the first generation free cultivators in the wake of the Sophron Dynasty’s rise. He had delved, but by all remaining reports had been unremarkable, having been over one thousand years old by the time he reached Tier 15, thus gaining immortality. According to his data, he had then lazed about for close to another thousand years before enrolling in an academy, where he stayed until he got his Hidden Masters, and then he took a job at a noble estate as a lawyer, where he still practiced. Through the profession, he earned enough capital to fund his way up to Tier 45, where he remained.

The only other notable thing about him was that he had tried and failed to create an Aspect several times in the last thirty thousand years, having failed just as recently as fifty years ago.

The society they had been tracking had been wanting to blackmail the man and had issued orders to that extent, but the information sent to the woman they wanted to do the black mailing hadn’t had the man’s secrets as far as they could tell.

Matt had no good feelings for anyone who would willingly join the Society of Stagnation, and neither did anyone else, making Nardo a good, if not perfect, person to go ask questions of.

After gathering all of the information they could, Allie teleported them to Tur’stal’s capital, where they enlisted a squad of her Tier 45 guards to accompany them to Nardo’s home just a dozen planets away.

Tur’stal didn’t even question the need and just told them that Manny had already told all of the Royals to not interfere unless they had to, but to help as they were reasonably requested to.

When they arrived, the guard captain, Valor, floated forward. “Ascenders, I feel the fluctuations of someone having recently completed their Aspect in the direction of his estate. Their formation wasn’t perfect, and it’s taking them some time to stabilize the Aspect. How would you like to handle this, Ascenders?”

“What’s the suspected timeframe?” Aster asked with her eyes narrowing on the far off estate.

“Not long. The moment they sensed us they started to wrap it up. The issue either wasn’t that bad, or they are almost done. Half an hour, an hour, at most.”

Liz pursed her lips before nodding. “Let’s move close, but not interfere.”

Matt watched the estate but didn’t know what to expect.

The timing seemed just a tad too convenient for his tastes.

Following the hunch, he accessed the planetary AI and reviewed its logs to find the fluctuations had actually started almost two years ago. That was just before the raid in which Liz and Allie had gotten the data from, which made Matt feel a little better.

His next thought was then to question just how incompetent this Nardo was in that it took him years to complete his Aspect.

It was an unkind thought, but one he couldn’t help but think.

Just twenty minutes later, the fluctuations finally subsided and a perfectly average voice rang out. “Welcome. What can I do for the Ascenders?”

Contrary to his voice, Nardo was strikingly good looking in an imperfect way, which spoke of it being his natural appearance instead the result of body modification. Or somebody putting in a lot of effort to make it look that way.

As Nardo rose into the air, he kept his eyes firmly fixed on them, but most of his attention was clearly on Matt who stayed silent as he listened to Liz reply.

“We have some questions to ask you, and we would appreciate your assistance.”

Nardo smiled but there was an edge to the expression. “I imagine there are a lot of things you might want to ask, but I’m not sure I want to answer.”

Liz’s gaze hardened even as the Tier 45s behind them readied their weapons. “Do you know the society attacking us was also targeting you, as a suspected member of the Keepers of The Golden Age?”

That seemed to catch Nardo completely off guard, and he paused for a moment before he nodded.

“Let’s talk, but frankly I don’t want to remain in this Realm any longer than I need to. If you had arrived a few weeks from now, I might have already left. Your arrival only makes me want to leave immediately instead of soon.”

The threat of his Aspect and Tier safely allowing him to leave the Realm wasn’t missed by anyone, but there was functionally nothing they could do to stop him if he started the process. Killing somebody mid ascension wasn’t completely unheard of, one only phased out of reality slowly so there was time to get some attacks in. But the guards they brought with them were very unlikely to be able to do enough damage in the limited time frame of an ascension. They’d have needed to call in a Royal for that if they wanted to be sure of killing Nardo.

They’d also be just as unable to gather information that way and they desperately needed the information he might have, so it was better to play along.

Not willing to enter his estate, they settled on an area in the grasslands just outside. With a wave, Aster pulled a table and chair set out of her spirit space, allowing them all to sit down.

Nardo spoke the moment he sat down, seemingly unbothered by the guards. “It’s quite amusing. A few years ago, I would have been trembling about this possible encounter. Having been outed as a member of the society can be life changing if one can’t escape properly. Now… It’s almost refreshing. Honestly, I have to thank you, Ascender Titan. It was you who allowed me to create my Aspect.”

“Oh?”

Matt’s simple question just seemed to amuse Nardo.

“I have no family, and nothing keeping me here, but I haven’t forgotten my roots or what I owe and who I owe it to, even though it took until a little while ago to really understand what those are instead of what I wished them to be.” Nardo smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Allow an old man to tell his story to one final group of people, before it truly doesn’t matter anymore.”

Liz gestured and one of the guards pulled out a plate of Tier 45 foods and a bottle of Tier 45 wine allotted to them by Tur’stal for entertaining high-Tier guests.

After sampling both, Nardo let out a long sigh. “I’m sure you have seen my public history, but let me explain something which I believe will make everything else more clear. I wasn’t a common-born man. I was the bastard son of a disgraced baron’s daughter who didn’t take care of her dalliances as carefully as she should have. I never learned who my father was, but, whenever I asked, I was told he was politically powerful enough that an abortion wasn’t an option they were willing to risk. When the old dynasty fell, I was angry. So much had almost been mine, and even that was taken from me. I was almost a noble and could have lived a life of luxury and indolence. I was almost important. I was almost someone. But instead, everything was ripped away as the old order fell. I hated the Sophrons, but I was no match for Agatha, yet I harbored hatred deep in my heart. When I reached Tier 15— this was before Bottled Concepts were a commonly available thing, I remind you— I spent a long time just lost in a fog, filled with hatred but too impotent to actually do anything.”

Nardo gazed outward beyond them and just sat there unblinking for a few minutes, leaving everyone sitting there silently. Even Allie, who was usually unable to sit still without something to occupy her, didn’t even twitch.

After what felt like far too long, Nardo continued. “One day I was approached by a stunning woman, who pulled me out of my depression and encouraged me to join an academy and better myself. In a not surprising turn of events, she was a recruiter for the Keepers of The Golden Age, who then quickly recruited me, using my hatred to their own ends. I worked as their eyes, ears, and hands until I was then promoted into the upper middle ranks. Fighting the good fight and all that bollocks.”

Waving, he produced a paper that had words drawing themselves even as he looked at it. “Over the last tens of thousands of years, my anger has diminished until it was only embers, and then eventually even they faded into nothing, but I was still part of the society and I did its bidding. It’s what I knew. It was also the chain holding me back.”

Barking a laugh, Nardo surprised them by smiling at Matt. “It was your reveal of the aura rifts that shattered my Concept, and in that, I saw my path forward. I needed to accept that, under the old system, I would have never even been allowed to start cultivating. If things had truly remained as they were, I would be long dead, having nothing to my name or anyone to remember who I was. You might be amused to know the society was pissed at the revelation, and from my understanding, there were even discussions at the highest level if they could take control of the method and only allow it to be used for their own ends. ‘How dare he release that to the commoners’ was a common curse for a while. Seeing you release something that could have either made you fabulously wealthy or ensure a lasting dynasty of your bloodline made me question everything I thought was right. It also made me realize that even if I don’t agree with everything that has happened, things are going in a good direction. Things are better now than when I was young. Better than the so-called golden years I yearned for.”

Stolen story; please report.

Looking back to the mansion, he finished quieter, “It was in that realization, in my rebuilding of my Concept, that I was able to form my Aspect. Over the few years of mediation and forming my Aspect, I have had to come face to face with a lot of things I never questioned and, frankly, I don’t like the answers I’ve reached.”

Pulling out a data crystal, he placed it on the table along with the paper he earlier conjured. “Since you are here, and the Circle of Ever Flame thought I was an easy target, I’m willing to help you before I go. Not like I’ll need to deal with the consequences of sharing this. I know you’ll suspect everything I’ve said, but I’m content with my actions. I don’t know if you all are right, but I’m willing to admit that I was wrong, so here is what I can do before I leave. Maybe it will help. Maybe not.”

Sensing that he was about to ascend, Aster spoke. “Wait.”

Nardo’s eyes hardened, but he didn’t start the process of ascension.

Aster turned to Allie and said two words. “Aunt Helen.”

Nardo looked surprised, but said nothing, just fiddling with the paper he had left behind, even as Allie vanished, leaving them all to sit in an uncomfortable silence.

Finally, almost ten agonizing minutes later, Allie arrived with a bemused Aunt Helen in tow. “This is quite the surprise— Ah.”

Seeing that, Nardo da Molin stood from the table to his full height before he started to rise and grow transparent as energy rushed from the hole that opened up in the Realm to allow the Tier 45 to surpass the Realm itself.

Matt watched the entire process, waiting for any deception, but found none as Nardo truly vanished.

Turning to Aunt Helen, Matt hoped he would feel her Concept finish repairing itself. He absorbed some of the energy to feel where his Aspect was leading, but wasn’t too serious. The others all closed their eyes making their own tentative feelers with the ascensions energy that was bathing the planet but their introspection only lasted a few minutes as they spent all the energy they had absorbed.

No, he’d rather watch and see if Aunt Helen could succeed.

When they had seen her last she had said it was only two or three Ascensions away, and he didn’t know if she had been to any more in the meantime, but he was hoping with everything he had.

When the energy of the ascension passed and there was no change, he was about to give up hope, and then he nearly jumped out of his skin as Aunt Helen pulsed her Concept. It wasn’t so much strong as it was profoundly deep in a way he hadn’t ever encountered with a person’s Concept before.

Lifting her head to the sky, she started laughing until tears started to run down her face.

Wiping her face, Aunt Helen reached out and pulled them all into a hug.

After she let them go she whispered. “Oh, thank you all so much.”

Matt along with everyone else congratulated the phoenix. “I’m happy for you.”

Aunt Helen winked at him even as she hugged everyone one by one, even the Tier 45 guards.

Sadly, Aunt Helen then looked to Allie. “As much as I’d love to stay, I need to get back. My quiche is about to be done, and, if I’m not wrong,” her gaze went to the objects left on the table, “you six are about to be busy. I’ll see you all within a year, I’m sure.”

When Allie didn’t immediately teleport her, Aunt Helen gestured for her to hurry up. “My quiche really will be ruined if I don’t get back immediately. I wasn’t expecting this and had plans in motion but because the realm has a sense of humor, the timing is overlapping.”

Hearing there was a baked good on the line, the two of them vanished. A moment later, Allie returned, munching a delicious smelling slice of quiche.

Part of Matt wanted to interrogate her and see if she had the rest of the quiche with her, but they had bigger fish to fry.

After thanking the guards and allowing them to return to their normal duties, they teleported back to Palustris.

When they were back in a safe area, Matt asked his wife with his eyes locked onto the pad still sitting on the table, none of them willing to directly touch it or the paper. “Do you think he’s bait?”

Liz snorted. “I’m skeptical at best. Just as we are constantly running into roadblocks, we have supposed answers handed to us on a silver platter? Even a blind man could see this has holes in it.”