The Path of Ascension Chapter 435

Chapter 435

Emmanuel flew through chaotic space at his personal best speed, keeping in line with the other Tier 50s. He could have changed his Talents to any number of ones he had worked out for just such an occasion and sped past them, but he was, like the others, saving his strength for what came when they reached the small cluster that was around one of the five Tier 46 planets usually swirling around in the deepest parts of the fourth layer.

Originally when he felt the sudden shift in trajectory he hardly considered it important and hadn’t even done more than update the Tier 46 and higher world maps trajectories, so others could do the calculations without disturbing him. It was rare for worlds to break through chaotic space layers, and there was no indication that this sudden turn would be any different. After all, there were dozens of such events every few centuries and nothing came of them.

That difficulty was exactly why he had been spending most of his attention trying to figure out the best way he could get Allie safely into the fourth layer, where the Empire could gain permanent access to another capital level world with no one the wiser, so long as they never sent Tier 46’s who would be felt moving in the Tier 50s’ perception.

It would make a good fallback point if all else failed, but unless he could figure out a way to safely get someone else deep into the third layer at a minimum, where he was sure he could find a Tier 30 world without letting the other Tier 50s know he was doing that, he was stuck.

Which was why he had been spending so much of his time sending out variations of clones that couldn’t be tracked, trying to see which one did the best through trial and error.

This shift in trajectory, because the Realm couldn’t help but laugh at his attempts to make plans, proved different.

Whatever empowered the Rasdale tidal breach shoved the world with enough energy to punch right through the third and fourth layer boundary.

That was interesting.

That was unique.

That was unexpected.

That was more than enough for all eight Tier 50s to race off into deep chaotic space.

While it would be impossible to bring any of the planets all the way back to their respective Great Powers, the resources they could bring back would not only help their subordinates, but possibly even themselves. Natural Treasures in the Tier 45 and higher range were basically extinct, with only one or two rifts per Great Power sometimes producing one.

It wasn’t that Emmanuel wanted to leave all of his important duties without the proper preparation for his absence, he didn’t need future sight to know that was going to create tons of avoidable messes, but that he couldn’t afford to stay.

If he didn’t leave when all of the others started moving, he risked calling their bluff.

If anyone stayed behind, all of the other Great Powers without a Tier 50 ready to react would need to consider that the lone Tier 50 might break the truces and decimate their factions. Some of the leaders wouldn’t care if that happened and might or might not seek revenge. Even if they didn’t, the other remaining Tier 50s wouldn’t be happy about it and would seek retribution in the name of justice, and more cynically, to avoid setting precedent that this was okay.

The problem was that the other leaders probably understood that he, Emmanuel Sophron, third of his name, would never harm innocent people like that. If he stayed behind, the others wouldn’t feel forced to return to guard their people. Instead, they would continue onward deeper into chaotic space.

Not getting the resources from the Tier 46 world wasn’t the biggest issue. No, the problem was the Empire not getting them and their enemies getting them instead. That could lead to a small but potent shift in high Tier strength, an area the Empire was already behind in since his grandmother’s execution or forced ascension of the Empire’s Tier 45s and higher when she took the throne.

Anyone against her had been forced to leave.

A smart decision that had paid off in internal stability, but left them exposed if a war ever escalated past Tier 35 and into the Tier 40 range, no matter how unlikely that should have been.

So, with everyone else leaving, Emmanuel was forced to go despite the short term consequences.

Possibly the worst part was he could leave to return to the Empire at any time via Allie’s Talent but it would be a one way trip. He could only use it as an escape method or to return home faster.

That second reason was tempting all on its own, but he wasn’t sure he wanted to show exactly how strong Allie’s Talent really was in such a public manner. Let them guess and second guess what was real and what was deception.

There were advantages with both decisions.

Before he could think about it too much, Emmanuel flashed to the right. Aoife seemed to shift to avoid a spatial turbulence a few thousand miles away, which put her too close to Winter Hornet, who shifted to keep his own distance, getting too close to Emmanuel for his own comfort.

At their Tier, a thousand miles was the absolute closest they wanted anyone near them in such a hostile environment, and Winter Hornet least of all.

There were a few things that could kill Tier 50s in chaotic space, but for every one of them, there were a thousand things that while not lethal, were just dangerous enough that they could force one of them to ascend. This early in their collective reigns, that would cripple their Great Power.

Which was why Emmanuel would have been happy had everyone stayed in their respective palaces.

Emmanuel’s attention was dragged back into the present as he felt someone else shift closer to him. When he saw it was Allister wanting to chat, he changed direction so they met faster.

When he heard what the other Tier 50 had to say, he couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow.

***

To her credit, Lila pulled her old ship out of a spatial ring the moment they were outside the space station. Matt had half expected her to fuck with them or up the price, but she signed over the controlling rights to the ship and looked at them expectantly.

Allie and Aster were first through the door, but Matt didn’t even make it that far. He was no ship snob like some others, but even he could see that the ship was top of the line.

Made entirely out of Tier 30 materials, the ship was all smooth lines, minimising the eddies of any chaotic space energies that might make it through its shields.

More than that, it was bristling with weapons of all kinds. His AI even identified several weapons that had been from other Great Powers’ more elite ships. Knowing Lila, she had probably looted them herself.

Looking at the engines, he was sure she had looted them because they were clearly of Sect design.

Inside, the Unsparing was more restrained than he would have expected. Elegant yes, gaudy, not really, especially when compared to the statue ship they had arrived on.

Matt followed everyone else going to the helm where they got a good look at the controls.

All of the advanced tech Lila pilfered had incredibly high potential, but running them with less power made them more efficient. That didn’t make them as efficient as a purpose built weapon or engine, but it was close enough with the added benefit of having a lot of extra power. It might cost more mana over the course of a trip, but when any other exploration ship might decide to kill for already harvested resources, it was the smarter option.

Something they didn’t really have to worry about with him there.

Piracy, Matt knew, was one of the greatest concerns for exploration ships.

Unless a Tier 32 or higher stepped in, it would be hard for anyone to kill them, and they always had Allie to teleport them away if someone of that Tier did come at them.

Or at least, they hoped that would be the case. Leaving settled space would be the farthest Allie had ever been away from somewhere she wanted to teleport. It was unlikely but possible that she might actually have a range limitation, and was something they would be testing constantly just in case.

Seeing Lila still waiting for them, looming next to the ship, Liz sent a clone out.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to get back to your meeting?”

Lila nodded. “Oh, I’m just waiting for you all to realize you are missing something.”

Matt stepped out next to Liz, wanting to join the conversation, which grabbed everyone else.

Lila loomed down over all of them shaking her head. “Don’t be like Aiden. If you are exploring chaotic space you need a proper crew. At least two Talented Tier 30 pilots to do the minute to minute flying, several Seeker’s to best find the planets, navigators to map out safe areas, engineers who can rebuild any systems blown up in a fight or just damaged by the environment, and harvesting crew members who can best gather the Natural Treasures. These people aren’t cheap, and you need them. Especially if you are flying my ship. For an additional three percent, I can promise you my guild’s best people who are already familiar with the Unsparing. Well, you probably want to hit up one of the important Capital Seeker guilds as well. I’m sure there are a team or two of more famous Seekers who will partner up with you for cheap, given that you are getting an advantage on a Rasdale breach. In fact, I’ll need you to pass on an offer for me when you teleport back to my guild and the Capital.”

Liz gave the dragon a flat look. “That’s your original ten percent. What the fuck.”

Lila gestured with a claw. “Yes child, keep up unless you want to be like Aiden and end up losing a very expensive ship and needing to crawl back in shame. If you’d thought to ask for a crew from the start, I’d not have done this. Oh, if you want to be extra safe you can hire a mercenary team. They will come at a premium, but can help you fend off the numbers I’m sure you will encounter. There are extra nice things I can recommend, but none that can be ready on such short notice. Hmm.”

Hearing that, Matt considered getting Team Zero back together, but being active duty military elites, they were all still Tier 25. Even at their best, the others couldn’t fight up five full Tiers to Tier 30 like they could halfway through Tier 28.

Sien sauntered out of a shadow as Lila was tapping her claw in thought. “Let us see this aura. We are in quite a rush and this might prove useful.”

Maya stepped out of a door of light, glaring at the Sect Ascender. “And you said we shouldn’t ‘buy too early’. Look at you now.”

Sien dismissed the critique with a wave. “Yes, that argument helped me then. It doesn’t now. Item please.”

Liz brought out the vials and immediately Matt knew they shouldn’t sell or agree to bet them yet.

Both of the other Ascenders seemed far too interested, neither hiding their lingering gazes.

Aster didn’t even bother with a private [AI] message and instead said out loud, “We should wait until they return from their own exploration and bet with some of their higher Tier Natural Treasures.”

“Agreed.”

“Absolutely.”

“Wait now—”

“Do be sen—”

Sien and Maya tried to argue but they held firm, quickly leaving to get their crew in the Empire, where Sien and Maya couldn’t offer even more tempting items on promise when they returned from their own expedition.

In the Empire each Kingdom had its own launching point, with Lila’s guilds being in Manny’s kingdom and therefore on the other side of the Great Powers from the Rasdale tidal breach. They weren’t alone, with another dozen guilds of equal size and influence there.

Accompanying them and the riches they pulled out of chaotic space were dozens of other industries, including Mercenaries and Seekers.

The guilds had their own Seekers, but the best of the best were semi-independent and part of the Seekers guild; which was more like a union of Seekers, given that they normally acted as contractors for a percent of the share.

The moment they arrived in-system flying the Unsparing, Lila’s guild immediately contacted them, where they sent both their offer; seven percent for the crew, three percent for Lila. They did it simply to piss off the dragon in a way she wouldn’t be able to call them out on.

It wasn’t only the best teams who would be rushing the breach, but everyone who could.

While Lila’s guild was reacting to the news and preparing who would be going with them, they teleported to the Capital and negotiated with the Seekers guild, hiring two highly experienced Tier 30 Seekers with notable reputations for another five percent of the loot.

Normally, neither of them moved for less than ten percent of the share and would have never agreed to work with another Seeker, but with two Ascender teams and Allie, they negotiated them down using the sheer amount of valuables they expected.

Allie was visibly strained as she teleported that many Tier 30s, in addition to the Tier 30 ship itself, all the way back to Minkalla.

Minkalla was as far as Allie wanted to reveal her teleport waypoints in other Great Powers.

As they tore into chaotic space, Matt went to check on the mana storage and see how best he could fill the system.

There he found the four mechanics already having checked the engines over and settling in.

Like the rest of the ship, the mana batteries were stolen from various sources and merged together with a deft but unsubtle touch that Matt could easily follow. Best of all was that there was already a mana link installed, so Matt could refill the ship’s stores from anywhere inside of it. It was less efficient than using the dedicated mana recharging points, but Matt cared more about his convenience than the lost mana.

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On long expeditions, it was expected for the crew to help fuel the ship with any spare mana generation. Combined with his mana sharing efficiency, Matt could probably keep their ship mana positive with just his Concept, so long as everyone contributed.

If he needed to, he could manually fill it once a day or so to keep up illusions about his Concept being more effective on himself, but that was an acceptable sacrifice if he needed to do so at all.

He then went over the various weaponry and noted that several were actually projectile launchers instead of raw mana based cannons. They even had a dedicated cannoneer who had a Talent and Domain which made their weapons stronger.

He found everyone else in the storage portion of the ship with the six crewmen who were inspecting the walls of spatial boxes one by one.

“What’s so interesting?” Matt asked as he came up beside Liz and Susanne, who were at the back of the crowd.