The Path of Ascension Chapter 414

Chapter 414

A few days later when everyone was tired of losing to Liz, Manny, and Yilek over and over again, they split up. Most just hung out in the room, simply turning the back portion of it into a lounge, but Matt had other plans.

As much as he hated it, he needed to venture into the horror of the open floor.

He, however, wasn’t alone. Carissa stepped beside him as he moved to leave the room.

While he wouldn’t mind her addition, he raised his eyebrow, silently questioning her action. He was fairly friendly with her, having met her a few times, but he was more familiar with Manny.

“I figured your upcoming chats will be more interesting than listening to Allie badger Manny to find out where he was.”

Matt rolled his eyes. “She started that up again? She can’t be that interested.”

Carissa just shrugged in return as they entered the floor. The moment they did so, a cheer spread out as Matt was invited to half a dozen groups, which only multiplied as more groups saw him or heard others call for him.

Seeing that Carissa wasn’t noticed by anyone else, he shot her a dirty look, to which she smiled cheekily back at him.

Declining the invites, Matt made his way to the closest of his targets, regretting not just summoning the people he wanted to talk with to a private room. That had just felt too clandestine and heavy handed for what he wanted to do and for his guild.

“Oh, you are going to visit Ernest first?”

Matt gave the Empress a questioning look even as he moved through the crowd. “Is there a reason I shouldn’t?”

“Just an interesting first choice is all.”

“I don’t think so. His Order is one of the most influential, but they haven’t been complaining or trying to bypass the rules that the Orders now labor under, like Stella’s has, and he isn’t as suspicious as Cornelius. I don’t know if I’d go as far to call him a loyalist or the like, but it’s behavior I’d like to reward and encourage.”

Carissa hmmed in a tone that forced Matt to ask for clarification. “Do you disagree?”

“Not really, it’s interesting logic is all. Few at your Tier, let alone your occupation, would have the power to truly mean what you say, let alone be accurate in their assessment. No, my interest is more that I know how much you hate the political aspect, but your choice is a good one that shows you are considering the political side of your actions. That kind of surprises me, is all.”

Matt scoffed, acting it up a little. “I’m offended. But you’re not wrong. I don’t like this stuff, but I… I want to be a helper, not a hindrance. I know how much Ascenders historically mess things up, but knowing the bigger picture, I want to be helpful rather than harmful, considering what is coming. Strategically talking to the Orders I already intend to open specific aura rifts up to just seems smart.”

“Is that why you are offering it up at all? You could have easily just said the one for the guild was just a favor to Helen. Few would complain too loudly at that reasoning.”

Matt shook his head even as he grabbed two non-alcoholic drinks from a passing waiter. Carissa, being a Tier 47, could control her body well enough that drinking alcohol wouldn’t bother her child. But she had said earlier she’d rather be safe than sorry, and Matt didn’t mind joining her.

Handing her the other drink, he answered her earlier question. “I’ve been considering it as a move for a few months now. People don’t know about our deal, and so funding has become a worry of the non-scientific guild members. It’s a small matter now but being able to remove that weight off their shoulders is important to me. Besides, this was always part of the plan.”

Carissa seemed genuinely surprised at his statement. “Was it? I figured you would have fully stuck to free rifts. That seems more in line with your goals and desires.”

Matt nodded along. “Ideally, I would love to keep everything free and open for everyone, but I’m not sure that’s realistic. Your average person will be perfectly fine with a general fire aura potion. Maybe a hyper-specific Fire of the First Flame aura based off the Natural Treasure might be better for them, but the actual market for something like that will be less than one percent of one percent of fire users. That means those rifts, if they would exist at all, would be incredibly rare, which means few would put in the money to make and maintain them. Let alone research the method to make them in the first place. So yeah, I don’t necessarily think it’s a contradiction to let them keep their secret aura rifts. It’s not like they are demonstrably better than a more general aura potion for the average cultivator. If they were, I’d care a whole lot more.”

Slowing down slightly, Matt added, “Also, part of the scientific method that works for me is having a direction. Having commissions to work towards will teach us different things as we find ourselves needing specific methods or items to reach that goal.” Grinning, he added the bigger reason. “That, and it seems really cool to make bespoke rifts of any type. A lot of the higher Tiers have specific family styles they try to get passed down, and this is the best way to get my hands on a lot of that. Some of the most fun I had making rifts was when I was using Melinda’s goop to try and make a lower-Tier healing skill. That’s how we got the first ever Tier 8 healing skill. So, if I’m going to be doing it anyway, why subsidize it when I can get others to open their pockets?”

Carissa laughed. “So that’s it! You just want to play with other people’s unique powers.”

Matt didn’t reply as he arrived in front of Ernest Baxter’s group, who were chatting against one of the balconies overlooking the dancing floor, where tens of thousands danced. Many, most of them in fact, were courtesans of the highest caliber. Their Tiers varied as did their Talents and Domains, but a majority of them had sex or other social Talents, which made the mass of them a sight to behold.

Nothing progressed so far on the dance floor as to be untoward, but courtesans were happily led off to private rooms where they and their catch could bleed off some steam that had been building on the dance floor.

Matt knew that many new connections would be made tonight, which was exactly why they fought to come to parties like this.

Matt knew Allie happily dabbled, but he and Liz were happily monogamous, as were Zack and Susanne, so he didn’t actually know many people who indulged. Even Aster wanted a monogamous relationship, and while he supposed it wasn’t impossible she would take a professional courtesan for that position, he personally didn’t think they were her type. Especially given how mercenary some of them became towards relationships.

Carissa laughed as she followed his gaze. “I remember when Manny and I first started dating. This was before I knew who he really was, obviously. A socialite Talent girl hit on him hard while we were delving in a Tier 12 world and I got incredibly jealous. I was sooo worried he would see her as more desirable than me because of her Talent and Domain and all of that. It wasn’t helped by the fact he just couldn’t understand why I was worried, which made me mad because I thought he was trying to blow me off. I didn’t get that with him having been taught from such a young age how to deal with such abilities, he really didn’t find her as titillating as I feared he might. It’s funny to look back on, with hindsight.”

Matt tried not to smirk as he pictured a young Manny cluelessly not understanding why an equally young Carissa was upset and promptly ignoring all the times that he or Liz had done something similar.

As he reached Ernest’s group, they widened the group slightly so he could fit, but Matt stepped deeper and shook the Tier 45’s hand. “I wanted to talk with you about the bespoke aura rift you asked about. I’ve decided to open up commissions and I wanted to bring it to you second.”

Ernest went through a dozen emotions, flashing too fast across his face for Matt to really follow, even as everyone else in the group split off and reformed a few feet away, giving the two of them the illusion of privacy.

Given everyone’s Tiers, true privacy was impossible, but the gesture was noted. The volume of the music even lowered around them as the venue automatically controlled how much sound could reach them.

After his momentary shock, Ernest smiled. “That is the most wonderful news. I also appreciate that you are offering it to me and mine. It could significantly help. Or at the worst, it can’t hurt. Most of our first generations have failed to create appropriate Concepts to fully utilize their inborn gifts. Unfortunate, but that is how it goes for a lot of us. I myself never managed it, and while I successfully forged myself into a powerful fighter, it can eat away at you. I remember how disappointed my parents were when I didn’t have an appropriate Talent and how much pressure there was to form an appropriate Concept at the very least. A suitable aura potion would be lovely, if for no other reason than to stop that cycle from continuing.”

Matt agreed. “If we can manage it. Though I’m hopeful. Your order uses the Dawn’s Blossom right? I assume you guys want a light-based aura? Maybe a wood, or a wood and light combo aura if that’s possible?”

Ernest’s smile turned awkward before he shook his head. “I’d not say no to any combination of those. Those of our order who only have the bodily effect of the Dawn’s Blossom will surely relish the opportunity to have an applicable Concept. For them, a mixture would be best, but either of the other two would also be acceptable. Some type of healing-based light aura or the like would be best of all. But for our successes who have an applicable Talent, I believe that something more about reflections or mirrors would be most ideal. Not crystal, however. It does need to be light. Historically, something like that would be one of the strongest ways to magnify the successful Talents we have come up with.”

As if worried Matt might take that the wrong way, he quickly added, “Not that we won’t take anything, but that’s what our best did, and I can’t really see a mass applicably way to do better. I re—”

Matt nodded along as he thought about how they would go about getting those types of aura and the types of Concepts they might make.

They had learned a lot about aura, aura potions, and the types of Concepts the various combinations of those three ingredients made in the last century, given the potions’ wide adoption and feedback.

A fire aura rift didn’t just make ‘fire aura’, at least not typically. There was more depth to aura and their resulting potions, but it was up to the alchemist to really bring out or suppress those natural secondary effects. A fire aura rift might make an aura that, when properly alchemized, could end up with a fire Concept that leaned to the ‘heat’ side of fire instead of a truly generic ‘fire’ Concept.

Both methods had their own advantages and some of the aura producers were already starting to offer a small number of specialized potions for those who wanted to target more specific Concepts. Many had partnered with higher-Tier alchemy guilds and corporations in their efforts, which Matt didn’t mind at all. The prices for the few successes were sky high, but he wasn’t going to stop them from advancing the field of study, even if he wished they were sharing those potion recipes freely.

Ultimately, Matt just didn’t care so long as the basic, and most importantly, cheap potions were still actually attainable for Tier 4s. In that regard, the specialized potions were driving the prices down as more and more investment was given to the field of study, which led to better general aura potions using more efficient methods.

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The specialized potions didn’t always work, either because the person truly didn’t resonate with that type of Concept, or a mistake in trying to shape the more specific Concept. But for those rich enough to afford the advanced potions, it wasn’t too onerous for them to destroy the Concept and to then take a second, third, or fourth potion until they got what they wanted, or gave up and shifted gears.

According to the reports Titan’s Torch had gathered, the Orders who had corresponding elemental auras already did exactly that, making up for specialization with numbers and-or money.

“Mirror is interesting. Trying to do it without involving any crystal mana will be challenging, but it’s the kind of challenge I’m certain someone will love to undertake. I’ll figure out who’s interested, and keep you updated. We’ll try mana-only first, but I may need to get some Dawn’s Blossom if that doesn’t seem promising, so if you can set some aside for me that would be beneficial.”

Ernest eagerly agreed. “I understand it won’t be cheap or quick, but with our bans lifted, we have been able to start delving openly once more, and I believe we can afford your prices. As for the time, your efforts are still more effective than seemingly everyone else who has attempted to replicate your success for themselves.”

Matt smirked at the not-so-subtle attempt at flattery. “Yes, many people have tried, but it’s not so easy. I know people don’t believe me when I say it, but I genuinely wish them luck. Sometimes just knowing something is possible is enough to make a breakthrough, and competition is a good thing.”

“That is generous of you, Ascender Titan. Many have approached we higher-Tier Orders hoping for funding, but the few who have accepted said approaches have only seen their money thrown into a fire.” Ernist then looked awkward as he tightened his grip on the surroundings, ensuring less people could eavesdrop. “About the formula for the rifts. How do you intend to handle that, Ascender?”

That was a good question, and one Matt had futilely hoped wouldn’t be asked.

Ignoring Carissa’s laughter that only he could hear, he waved away the privacy, not minding if everyone else heard.

“I’m open to suggestions.” Seeing the surprise on everyone’s face, Matt smiled as he continued, “I know everyone sees me as someone who gives everything away. I’m not blind or dumb. Frankly, with something like a general light aura, I do intend to give away the formula for free. It’s too broad and applicable to too many people to allow to be locked up in someone’s vault. I can’t see myself allowing it to be restricted. As for the more specific aura types, like reflection, I’m not against ensuring that only the purchaser has the formula. I’d prefer some provision allowing outsiders to be able to buy some amount of the potion, or a time limit being placed on the exclusivity, but it’s not a hill I’m willing to die on. Frankly, the generic potions are good enough for someone to reach Tier 15, and once they are immortal, they can destroy their Concept and build a more perfectly fitting one if they really want to.”

His comment spread like a wave as the Orders, and everyone else who wanted a bespoke rift from Matt, realized that he wasn’t going to demand that anything they wanted from him be shared freely.

Matt knew how they saw him as ‘wasteful’, but he hoped that publicly stating he was willing to play the game of politics and resulting interest would ensure that anyone on the fence about becoming his enemy would land on the correct side.

He was sure his hidden enemies were at this very party and doing their own networking, but Manny had refused to capture and execute them all when Aster had asked just before the execution of the former marquess.

After a little more discussion about what other aura types Ernest would find acceptable, Matt moved onto his next target.

That one was once more a political choice, as he visited both Stella Pattinson and Cornelius Ross Jr., finishing out the trio of the strongest Knightly Orders.