The Path of Ascension Chapter 482

Chapter 482

Mathew flinched away, confused before he saw the message Matt was now very glad he’d sent. From there, his motion reversed as he pulled Matt into a hug.

When they pulled apart, they simply swapped and Matt gave Melinda a hard squeeze as well before letting go and stepping back.

“Fancy seeing you guys down here.” Liz mirrored Melinda and Mathew’s earlier stance, threading her arm through Matt’s.

Nodding unashamedly, Melinda explained, “We just got to see each other for the first time in almost a century, so we wanted to have a little couple time. I’ve been slamming my head against my Talent’s latest hurdle before Tier 25. To make a long story short we both needed the break.”

Matt laughed as they moved onto the next stall as a larger group. “We were doing the same thing. Mind if we tag along?”

“Mind if I riffle through your pockets for change? Rumor has it you guys had the best total haul.”

Rolling his eyes, Matt sniped back, “I’m pretty sure you have a larger official budget than I do.”

Mathew snorted and pointed out the flaw in Matt’s argument. “I’m pretty sure everyone has a larger official budget than you.”

Matt didn’t need the silent ‘you are the budget’ tacked on to hear the words all the same and crinkled his nose up at his friend. “That was my joke. You can’t steal my joke. That’s wrong on so many levels.”

Liz was no help as she shook her head. “You’ve made that joke a few too many times now, honey.”

Wincing, Matt put a hand to his chest before shrugging. “Nope, no heart attack.”

That caused Melinda to scan him before she wrinkled her nose up at him. “I can’t see through your mask. Boo.”

Reaching out so she could touch him, Matt let Melinda hit him with a healing spell.

Sighing, Melinda brushed aside an errand strand of hair before poking both him and Liz in unison. “I’m peeved at both of you and I wanted to let you know that.”

“Wait, what did I do?”

Looking at his betrayer, Matt asked, trying not to laugh. “Heyyyy?”

“I visited your ‘Young Immortal’, Timmothy. I thought he might have been the big break I needed in getting my Talent to treat age as an ailment, but nope his Talent is just doing the same thing normal immortals do to decrease age, ageing their cells down through spiritual control. Therefore, he’s not doing anything new and it wasn’t helpful. Booo. I got really excited. Baxter definitely knew but he’s a dick about stuff like that and let me waste my time.”

Mathew nodded silently. “She was very enthusiastic. And very let down when she realized.”

Picking up a stick of caramel covered fruits from a passing tray, Matt offered it as an apology.

One that was quickly devoured by all of them when Melinda offered after trying the first one. The blackberry Matt got was the absolute perfect ripeness, and he followed it up with a raspberry for a contrasting tartness.

“You’re forgiven. Besides, I’m in a fantastic mood. I finished creating my Intent and so I’ve been preparing to break through to Tier 25. I want to expand my Tier 3 a little more before I make the jump. Maybe it will help my Tier 25 Talent, maybe it won’t but I’m in no rush.”

After giving the appropriate level of congratulations, Melinda looked between the two of them. “Okay, now your turn. What have you guys done?”

“Let’s not skip Mathew.” Matt nodded to the other man but he shook his head.

“Don’t look at me. I’m in the same boat as every other Tier 25 who just broke through despite being a Tier lower. I haven’t made the slightest progress on my Aspect. In fact I haven’t even thought about getting started on my Aspect. I’m not crazy like you guys.”

Liz agreed while trying to play demure. “I get it. I only recently made a breakthrough myself and it was semi-incidental, really.”

“Oh?” Seeing the interest, phoenix Liz preened even as human Liz let herself smile. “I figured out my Anchor.”

Eyes widening, both congratulated Liz, even as she waved it off, using touch to send her reply. “It’s my cauldron that I was able to customize. I wouldn’t say using it as an Anchor is a unique idea so it’s not that impressive. I think all of us are intending to at least try for the same thing so really I’m just slightly ahead of the curve.”

Returning to verbal communication, Matt didn’t let his wife downplay her achievement any further. “Except what she’s forgetting to mention is that she didn’t just figure out that it’s compatible, she already managed to claim it.”

Not bothering to act demure any further, Liz’s smile widened fully. “I still need to finish ninety percent of the process, but the hard part is done.”

“That’s seriously impressive. Any chance we can see it in action?”

Melinda’s question was answered by a happy nod. “If we can find something good, I’m happy to show how it works.”

Mathew stretched up looking at farther stalls, “What are you looking for?”

However, Liz shook her head. “Nothing we are likely to find out here in the open stalls. I’ll give a demonstration when we find something, though. I’m sure there will be things. But honestly don’t stress about your Aspect’s. It’s the same process as with an Intent. Once you’re confident, using whatever method feels best, claim the item and you’re done. No big deal.”

Melinda, an expert on everything biology thanks to her profession as a healer, immediately started digging deeper. “How does that work? What items do you need? Or rather, what criteria makes an item good? Do they have to be Natural Treasures?”

Liz shook her head. “In theory? No. In practice? Most of the time, yes. As for the criteria I’m looking for, that’s harder to explain. I really want unique or interesting properties related to Ichor but that’s far from a hard requirement. When you zoom out far enough it’s mainly trying to find magical or physical properties that might be useful to me; however other objects not related to Ichor are simply harder to… refine.”

Saying as much as she was willing, the other two didn’t push.

Instead, they continued around until they agreed to head up to the suite they had booked for the month.

Ordinarily the size of a closet, the room was spatially expanded, warded, and furnished into a full luxury suite able to easily fit more than fifty people for the month-long auction without discomfort. Given the typical costs involved with each room, it wasn’t too surprising, but Matt was more than happy with what they got.

Centered around a large living room with plenty of seating, he found several side rooms configured into beds for anyone who wanted or needed to sleep, but most were set up as slightly more private lounges. Entirely customizable and rearrangeable, the rooms were also catered by an entire team of Talent chiefs ready to make anything they could dream of.

The entire place was of course lavishly furnished, with not a single piece of furniture lower than Tier 40.

Whistling, Liz brought their arrival to the attention of everyone already in the room. There they were met with a chorus of jeers, cheers, whoops and other nonsense calls, such as ‘finally made it’ and ‘took you long enough’, as if they hadn’t been the ones doing everyone’s chores.

Liz was the fastest to snipe back, “Don’t give me that! It’s clear you guys haven’t been missing our presence. I see cards. Deal me in!”

Skipping to join most of their friends who already arrived, Liz was greeted with good natured boo’s and others derogatory remarks. She was even dealt in to good natured complaints.

Passing by the table and briefly saying hello to Kyle and Samantha, Matt joined Aster, Vinnie, Tara, Annie, Emily, and Conor who were gathered around one of the bars as they kept ordering stranger sounding drinks.

Seeing the bright pink drink rise out of the counter, Matt sniffed once before leaning away with everyone else.

“What did you guys order? It smells awful.”

Aster snorted, even as everyone else laughed. “The description called it a Holiday Relaxation Starter. I expected… anything else. Alright, who wants the first sip?”

Seeing everyone look at him, Matt rolled his eyes, willing to eat the newcomer tax.

Picking up the drink, he searched for the straw before taking a sip.

Looking down in surprise, Matt made a pleasant sound. “It doesn’t taste anything like it smells.”

An interested Vinnie took his own sip. “He’s lying. It tastes awful.”

However instead of pushing the glass away, Vinnie tried to pull it closer to himself, causing everyone else to rush into their doom as the drink passed around.

Only when Aster took a sip did Matt let go of the death grip he held on their bond. The initial flavor really wasn’t too bad, it was fruity with a hint of sourness that made the colors bright. It was everything that came after which was the problem.

Matt didn’t enjoy remembering it, but he’d dug his way through sewage and worse, yet he still struggled with words to describe the aftertaste. It was foul in a way he found hard to describe.

Seeing everyone else trying not to react, Matt finally let himself laugh with Vinnie. His laughter turned into tears as the flavor only started to grow worse the longer it sat on his tongue.

Face still distorted in a cringe, Sam gasped, “Someone order something new! I can’t do this flavor anymore. My stupid Talent won’t even let me consider these drinks as a poison, which is clearly wrong. Anything that tastes this bad is objectively a poison. This is bullshit of the highest order! I hate Talent made drinks.”

Scrolling through the list they’d been ordering off of, Matt found something called a Limping Slammer and ordered a lower Tier variant that his sub-Tier 25 friends could consume.

When a deep green drink rose out of the table, Matt was bombarded with hate as his drink was surprisingly drinkable without any harsh flavors.

As a punishment, the rest of the table collectively ordered him one of the worst drinks they’d sampled before his arrival.

Seeing the Thunder Thunder Thunder made with Tier 30 liquor was purple and near ice cold, Matt knew he was in for serious punishment. His instincts were correct, and the moment the drink touched his taste buds, he hated himself for not joining Liz in playing cards.

Setting the empty glass on the table, Matt tried very hard to not blink or let his face move all too much. “Fantastic.”

Hearing how gasped the word sounded even to his own ears, Matt didn’t bother holding back and joined in the laughter, even as Vinnie started looking for the next awful drink.

Their partying lasted for most of the first day, before they were inevitably pulled into the auctions as they started to begin. With their private suite, they could attend any of the auctions remotely, which was a special privilege only given to those wealthy enough to pay for the convenience.

Using the projectors built-in, they were easily able to watch as an older woman started things off.

Being the first official auction, the venue had gone all out, despite the first one being traditionally aimed at the mortals.

Whistling, Matt shook his head with most of the rest of the room as they shook their heads in disapproval at the first item.