The Path of Ascension Chapter 424

Chapter 424

Seasaidh wasn’t quite how Matt remembered her.

In his memory, she was a brash young woman who had a chip on her shoulder and something to prove to pretty much everyone.

The current her wasn’t that different; she seemed eager for a fight despite still being Tier 20, but she at least had the restraint to not attack them the moment they walked into the room.

That restraint seemed to slip as Aster smiled at her. Matt felt that Aster hadn’t meant to antagonize the other woman, but seeing she had, Aster leaned into it and blew her a kiss.

A man to Seasaidh’s side spoke first. “Legends. It is an honor to see you. We would like to test ourselves against you before our upcoming war. Any and all feedback would be appreciated.”

Wun smirked as he sauntered in behind the six of them, but his tone didn’t match his demeanor. “You really don’t.”

Seasaidh’s mace head started to brighten as she looked at Wun. “We really do.”

A pair of higher-Tier men, Tier 40s if they weren’t hiding their cultivation, who had been standing behind the team of elites looked like they wanted to say something, but refrained.

That was until one stepped forward, nodding deep enough it could be construed as a bow. “We would appreciate it if you could spare a few minutes and give them some feedback. It could be helpful.”

Seasaidh interrupted the man. “No, we want a fight. A proper one, like we said we would. I—”

Four skeletons shambled into the room, interrupting them.

The dwarven skeleton coughed as if it was trying to clear the throat it didn’t have before speaking perfectly. “Ahh, Seaside, you really don’t want to go into the fight with that mindset. It will be less than productive.”

Matt was pretty sure that was Krodag, given the lack of overly thick accent, but with the four other Ascenders who knew how many systems away, that could just be from Brian having to relay the information and not bothering to add in the accent to mess with Moe.

A second skeleton said, in an overly feminine voice that Matt knew Brian was going to pay for representing Ellen with, “We’ve lost to them, kid. Don’t do this to yourself.”

The other members of Seasaidh’s team looked apprehensive at the news, but the Inheritor just looked ready for a fight.

Matt shared a look with Liz and then Zack before stepping forward. “What about a showcase? We can comment on some of you—”

He was interrupted by both Wun and Seasaidh.

Seasaidh growled out, “No! I demand what was promised: a proper fight. I’m going to defeat you at the same Tier. I have to.”

Wun, on the other hand, messaged the group of them instead of speaking out loud. “Fight her and crush her. She’s just going to get herself killed if she keeps chasing a phantom in the dark. Try not to ruin her, but better that than her dying in the upcoming war with no chance of redemption.”

Matt sighed before accepting.

They had promised, but it just felt so… childish.

It also went exactly as everyone except Seasaidh knew it would.

Even restraining themselves to Tier 20, there was no contest.

The dwarven team was good, but Matt would put them at the bottom of peak elite at best. That was a damn sight weaker than a pinnacle elite, which might have actually been a slight challenge.

Seasaidh’s opening move ruined any chance the team might have had, as slim as it was, when she dashed in and tried to brush past Matt and Liz, wanting to get to Aster.

It was the right call in a theoretical match, but in practice, it was doomed to fail.

Liz grabbed the mace head with her bare hand, not bothered by the incredible heat the weapon produced.

Trying to do as Wun asked, she said, “If you want that to be effective, you need to increase the heat of your flames. Pinnacle Milo in the Republic won’t even feel that.”

That just seemed to anger Seasaidh even further, and while the emotion did seem to increase the heat of her mace, it also made her just a bit sloppier, which was worse than if she had done nothing.

Her elite teammates weren’t much better, as they all moved to try and save their lead, neglecting their own defenses.

Aster froze the healer almost immediately, and Matt just stood there, letting the archer shoot at him while the melee fighter tried to assist Seasaidh.

His fate was just to get tangled up by another Liz clone.

They weren’t bad. They were genuinely strong, but at their power level, anyone under pinnacle elite was basically a non-entity in a one-on-one fight.

When Seasaidh finally saw her team being easily taken care of while she was in a similar predicament, it seemed to break something in her and she just dropped to the training ground floor.

Matt didn’t miss that everyone except Susanne, Zack, and Allie had left as it happened, including both sets of Clan Ascenders.

Seasaidh punched the ground, but with no real strength. “Why? Why does it have to be like this? I’ve tried so hard. We’ve tried so hard. Why isn’t it enough?”

Looking down at her mace, she growled, “I didn’t ask for this. I’m happy I got it, but… I didn’t ask for everything that came after. Everyone expects us to be at your level, but I can’t. They want us to be equal to Legends, but it’s not that easy. When we nearly beat you, they acted like they expected that to continue.” Panting, she almost seemed like she was going to stop speaking before she continued in almost a whisper. “They expected us to continue that, but it’s not that easy. It’s not that easy. It’s… I don’t know. It’s hard and not fair, but life isn’t fair, and I know that. I— I’m just… I don’t know any more.”

Matt didn’t have the magical words which would make everything better for Seasaidh and her team.

Liz seemed to have a better idea of what they needed to hear, even as she took a seat a few feet away from the angry Tier 20. “You guys are picked as kids, right?”

Seasaidh ripped her gauntlets off and threw them across the room, the Tier 20 items slamming into the wall and leaving small dents.

“Yeah.” The single word was filled with so much vitriol Matt nearly leaned back. “It’s sold as some big honor. Picked by an item that one of our most influential Ancestors hand crafted. Most fail. I expected to fail. Everyone before and after failed. It sucks. You feel like you let everyone down. My older brother failed, and he was depressed for a few weeks. It passes, though. After all, everyone fails, so it’s not like it’s unexpected. But everyone wants to think they are the exception. The one who will prove everyone wrong. I never imagined getting chosen could be so much worse.”

Seasaidh barked a laugh and almost seemed like she was going to cry, but instead forced herself to speak. Matt watched as she forcefully controlled her body to not let her emotions vent as they probably needed to.

“I got chosen. It was such an honor, and everyone seemed to expect even more from me. I already worked so hard to get chosen. Top of my classes, top of my extracurriculars, top of everything. For some reason, I thought being chosen would make things a little easier. It didn’t. Instead, the expectations just increased. I thought before that people wanted perfection, but it was only after that I learned what real perfection was. There is a difference between a perfect score on a test and a perfect score in a practice fight or battle. There is always a critique. Some way I could have done better if just I had known the enemy was only bluffing their strength on the left flank, despite not having ever commanded a battle before. That I should have fought through the stalemate in one way or another. That I should have thrown my troops into battle regardless of the losses, or I should have done something else that would have cost less. There was always a criticism, a comment about how I should do things better. I didn’t ask for any of it, but because I was chosen, it became my duty to defend the Clans.”

Seasaidh started laughing, and at first Matt almost thought it was a good sign until the laughs turned bitter. “The worst thing is, I wanted to be the defender they pushed me to be. I still do. Or I think I do. I want to protect my home. I want to, but it’s not that easy. No matter how much I put into it, there is always another hurdle. Another layer. Why? Why is it like this? Why can I not even come close to matching you guys? Whyyyyy?!?!?”

At her last screamed word, she started punching the reinforced floor until her hands were bloody.

Liz laughed softly, which caught Seasaidh off guard enough that her next blow stopped mid descent.

Even as Seasaidh was gearing up to get angry thinking Liz was mocking her, Liz nodded. “I get it. My parents are two of the Royals. The two Tier 48s no less. Nothing I ever did was ever mine. If I did well in a class, it was because my parents could hire the best tutors. The fact that they didn’t hire tutors didn’t seem to change people’s opinions. It was because of them that I did well on the test, regardless of the extra practice I put in at home.”

Seasaidh looked almost taken aback, but nodded slowly instead of continuing to lash out.

Liz shrugged. “I cried. A lot, to be honest. My parents tried to show and tell me that they loved me for who I was and I didn’t need to prove anything to anyone, but I felt I did. I wanted to prove all of the doubters and naysayers wrong, but most of all, I wanted to prove to myself that they were all wrong. Eventually turned it into a fixation on becoming an Ascender. Surely no one could say I had faked that with my parent’s help? They still did. Still do, I’m sure. It’s not everyone, it’s not even a lot of people, but hateful, jealous people want to tear me down even a little bit to make themselves feel better.”

“Yeah, but you did it. You succeeded. I didn’t. I can’t.”

Seasaidh didn’t seem like she was lashing out, but instead asking some ephemeral question that she didn’t even quite know.

Liz shook her head. “I still doubt myself sometimes. I still wonder if I’m good enough, but it wasn’t the Path that showed me it’s enough. It’s the friends I made along the way, as cliche as that sounds. Matt, Aster, Susanne, Melinda, Mathew, Tara, Vinnie, Samantha, Kyle, Connor, Emily, Annie, Bradley, and Jill. More honestly, but my point stands. Completing the Path wasn’t what I was really looking for. It was something more like acceptance for being me and not an extension of my parents.”

Seasaidh didn’t respond for long enough that Aster started talking. “People said similar things about me as well. I was ‘just a bond’ and therefore not a real Ascender. It sucked.”

As she continued, Matt gave her a small hug through their bond which she returned.

Matt wasn’t sure it helped Seasaidh figure out her issues, but it did seem to calm her down a bit knowing that even they, her obsession, had struggled and failed.

By the time Aster was done, Matt felt like he had found the words he was looking for.

“Sometimes it’s not about doing what others expect of you, but doing what you are willing to do.”

That seemed to spark a fire in Seasaidh, and she waved her mace between them. “There is no choice in it for me. There is only obligation. Only service.”

Matt met her eyes, challenging her silently. “Is there? Or are you still trying to live up to their expectations?”

Slamming her mace down, she growled, “I want to live up to them, damn it! I want to be what they want me to be. I love my home and want to help defend it. I want to be strong enough that people think not just twice before they are willing to attack, but three times. I… I want to live up. I just can’t. The bar is too high. No. The bar is always rising. No matter how much I push, the second I complete a challenge, they change the goal for one just out of reach. I’m like a rat running circles in a cage.”

Matt shook his head, knowing he was at least partially talking to himself and his own situation. “That’s what I’m talking about. You are still trying to meet their expectations in the way they want you to. You are missing the other option, giving them as much as you want on your terms. Be the defender of your home at the peak elite. Become the best at that level. Round out your foundation. Then, and only then, start looking upward at pinnacle elite. Or if you don’t want to do it at all, walk away.”

That final suggestion made Seasaidh recoil like he had slapped her in the face, but he only shrugged. “Even Ascenders aren’t irreplaceable. Sure, we outweigh others, but wars still happen when a Great Power doesn’t have an Ascender. Unless your Great Power does something stupid, they aren’t going to be destroyed in a war. There are others to hold up the sky before it lands on your shoulders.”

Matt wasn’t sure that helped Seasaidh and her dilemma, but she seemed more relaxed and actually started talking to her team, which everyone from the Empire let happen without interrupting.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

After almost an hour of that, Seasaidh picked up her mace and asked for a second bout with them.

That time the fight was far less brutal and more a friendly exchange of skills, with her seemingly willing to take feedback.

What Matt noticed was how her team looked like they had a weight taken off their shoulders, and he made sure to try and give them some attention as well. That, more than anything, seemed to kick Seasaidh in the ass, and she even went as far as apologizing to them in front of everyone.

With that, their teamwork marginally improved, with Seasaidh no longer trying to force the battle to fully revolve around her. Matt hoped that meant she realized she didn’t need to hold the weight of every battle on her shoulders alone, but only time would tell.

It at least changed the tone of their stay on the planet, with several higher Tiers coming up to them and thanking them for trying to help Seasaidh. There was also a noticeable easing of tensions as they delved the nearby rifts.

What was more interesting was when a Tier 46 woman with hair that was so long it nearly brushed the ground came to them, accompanied by Wun.

Matt raised an eyebrow at Wun to see why he was bringing someone to them just after they got out of a rift, but the older Ascender just rolled his eyes and indicated it was all Matt’s fault.

“Good day, Legends. My name is Una MacLeoid, head of clan MacLeoid, and I came today to ask a few questions, if you would be willing to answer.” As if she just realized she hadn’t mentioned what question she meant, Una added, “Questions about the skill creation method Legend Titan released.”

Aster blew him a raspberry as she immediately turned and walked away, leaving them to go to their house, where she could bathe.

As everyone else did the same, Matt decided to be equally false casual. “I’m happy to. As you can see, we just exited a rift and needed a bit of time to shower and relax. Why don’t you come to our house and we can talk there?”

Matt didn’t miss it as Wun winked at him and Matt smiled when they entered the house.