The Path of Ascension: A LitRPG Adventure, page 67
What they had done was standard practice when cultivating a planet. You noted rifts with great growth potential and culled the worst of each Tier. Things like monster type and density of monsters were the primary concerns for rifts Tier 7 and under. After Tier 8, they focused on skill shard drops for more value per delve.
Eventually, the rifts would be mostly farmed as value-producing machines, essentially money printers. On training worlds, where the rifts were left to sit, they focused on rifts that gave growth items. That wasn't the case on worlds that were delved regularly, as the chance for growth items dropped off sharply if the rift wasn't at full capacity.
Matt made a note of that. If he could find a rift that others didn’t know about, which had a growth item as an even semi-regular reward, he could get a few of them. Even if they weren't great for him or Liz, they could always sell them for a nice payday.
The other bit of information that surprised him was how fragile the economy was. The Empire had strict limits of what higher Tiers could do with their money. A lower-Tier world’s economy could be irrevocably damaged if a higher Tier came through and bought everything up.
The issue was mostly solved by Tiers. Generally, large expenses were loosely regulated so long as the items were at their own Tier or higher. But things like housing and food were strictly controlled. The Empire wouldn’t stand for any slum lords or food hoarders.
The information was good, and he was better for learning it.
After classes, he spent most of his time trying to find a hobby. Matt had made a list and worked his way from the bottom. He tried painting, gardening, wood crafting, sculpting, dancing, acting, and even alchemy.
None of them gave him any pleasure. Blacksmithing and enchanting were saved for his third and second choice. He was vaguely familiar with the former from a few lessons he took on the PlayPen. It was a useful skill, and he planned to at least learn enough to be able to maintain their weapons. But it was still just a job to him.
That left enchanting. After a brief overview, Matt found that he hated it. He also recognized that he had an advantage that every enchanter would kill for. Mana was the limiting factor in most professions, but it was even more so for enchanters. They required tens of thousands of mana for the simplest of runes to take form and burn into the structure of the item they were trying to enchant.
That cost only multiplied when trying to enchant with the ambient mana that most cities stored.
Matt had none of those problems. The mana cost wasn't a single big price, but one that needed a slow and steady input of mana.
He was the perfect enchanter.
And he hated it.
He was taking lessons and had purchased everything he could download to his AI. He wasn't going to waste an opportunity for a productive life skill that was perfect for him just because doing so was a chore he didn't enjoy.
Matt finished the lecture and packed his notebook and pad away. He preferred to hand write the important bits of the lecture down. It helped to commit them to memory. They weren't tested in any way during the class, as it was simply meant to cover gaps in education or give people a starting point for further research on the massive EmpireNet.
The teacher called out during the mass exodus from the lecture hall, “One special announcement. The vassal kingdom nearest to us is expanding in the next year. They’re putting out very nice terms for anyone who's willing to join as a subject of the new planet. Anyone who moves to the new planet to settle will be given special treatment depending on Tier, contribution, and skill set. It's a vassal kingdom, not the Empire proper, so do with that information what you will.”
Matt received an information packet with the relevant information. As he walked to his next class, the one he enjoyed the most, he scanned the provided data. Travis and Keith scouted new planets for a living and had talked about how amazing things could appear on planets that remained untouched for long enough.
The destination, and main reason why the vassal kingdom was expanding, was a newly discovered Tier 20 world four jumps away from their border. They couldn't pass up the opportunity to add a high-Tier world to their territory. The planets in between were nothing special and would eventually be subjugated and colonized as well. The vassal kingdom needed them to remain safe, for passage to the valuable world.
Matt had no interest in settling the planets, but he was intrigued by a Tier 6 world that was part of the intermediary planets. It too had to be subjugated, and that meant opportunity.
The thoughts were pushed to the side when he arrived at his next class. He quickly found his usual table, and removed his knife set from his spatial bag. He hadn't been surprised when he had loved cooking after trying it for the first time. It reminded him of simpler times, and he could share the closeness with Liz and Aster.
There was something about not using his mana or Talents, the things that made him a valuable commodity instead of a person, to create something special he truly enjoyed.
The class was still focusing on mundane food for the next two weeks but, soon, they would cover how to purify monster meat. He would be learning how to make the meat consumable by normal humans.
I can’t wait to see Aster's face when I steal one of her hearts.
The thought made him smile in anticipation. He'd pay for the prank, but it would be worth it.
The teacher walked in, and Matt focused intently on her as she sat at her desk. The woman, Miss Ruth, tolerated no nonsense, and he was pretty sure she had a skill for noticing wandering attention.
“Class, today we will be going over the types of beef and its analogs. We will be butchering a standard cow today and going over the various cuts and how to prepare them. Finally, we will wrap up the lesson with storage. Beyond throwing it in a spatial item with time effects, that is. Tomorrow we will be using said meat and cooking. There will be a large quantity of meat, so decide if you want the food for yourself, or to have it sent to the dining hall. Either option, as usual, is fine. But either bring a spatial item, or have your diners come here after our usual class time.” Miss Ruth's voice was clipped, and each syllable was perfectly enunciated.
With that, she turned on her heels and was quickly out the door she had just entered. Matt and the other seventeen students headed out to the pasture after her, where nine cows meandered around.
They were expensive, but all the meat would be either used by the students, or it would be sold to the school dining hall at cost. Travis had paid for one of the cows so that they could have the meat to eat together. Matt didn't mind, the price was only two Tier 2 mana stones. It was just that he had no way to safely store the meat.
The class proceeded with humanely killing the animals. The teacher used [Process], a skill that quickly drained the freshly slaughtered carcasses of blood and replicated the effect of hanging and drying the meat. It was a skill that had no real purpose in combat, but Matt was intent on purchasing it before they left the planet.
They were split into teams of two, and each team took half of a carcass to butcher. The meat was placed in the special storage items that the school had set aside for storage of perishables. They weren't rings, so you only had to be Tier 5 to use them. Their only problem was how expensive they were, with the time stopping effect they carried.
After the class, Matt went and hurried off campus to a custom shirt shop. He had seen the shop on his way to his first class of the day and wanted to get a gag gift for Liz. The stop took longer than he expected as there was a pretty long line. Despite the delay, he only had to run half the way to his therapist session.
This was his third therapist, and one he thought he liked. It was their fourth session, and the older man with gray at the temples was the right mix of sophisticated and understanding. Matt felt comfortable in his presence.
He was surprised that the therapists had all started his sessions unlike anything he had seen in shows and movies. None of them tried to dig into his past at all. They were far more focused on his present and only addressed his past when he brought it up himself.
Dr. Hastings sat in his leather chair and handed Matt a glass of water with a slice of lemon at the bottom.
Matt plopped down in the chair. “Thanks, Doc. Look what I got, Liz.”
Matt pulled out his joke shirt and showed the doctor.
“I take it that's an inside joke of some sort?”
He hadn't shared much about Liz's background, but the older man wasn't stupid.
“Yeah. She already got me, so I need to return the favor.”
He had bided his time, waiting for the perfect revenge for the mana battery box joke. It had taken nearly a month, but she had let down her guard, and now was the time to strike.
Later that night, Matt sat around, finishing up charging the 250,000-mana storage slab they had from the city. This was how Matt and Liz were affording everything. The city sent someone over with an empty slab every third night. It only took Matt a little more than three and a half hours to charge each slab of mana stone. So, he used the time he had to work on his Concept or practice his skill-shaping abilities.
They had requested every three days as it would draw less suspicion than Matt filling one up every day, which would draw unwanted attention to his regeneration.
This time, there was a second man with their usual delivery man.
He had an official look about him, and when he saw Matt, he briskly asked, “Can you get the owner of the residence? Thanks.”
With that, he just looked past Matt like he was already gone.
Matt cocked an eyebrow and felt at the man with his spiritual sense. He felt like a Tier 7. Only slightly stronger than the average for the world. It wasn't that impressive given the gray peppering his hair. His AI came back with nothing from the public database.
Shrugging, Matt went inside and found Travis peeking his head into the living room from the kitchen.
Quietly he asked, “Who's that?”
Matt shrugged and followed the Tier 17 outside.
The man, on seeing Travis said, “Ah, good. We need you to move your house at least thirty miles from this area.”
Travis smirked and shook his head.
Matt looked at their normal delivery person, Jessie, and asked her, “Who is this guy?”
The woman was friendly enough with Matt and said, “I don't know, but my bosses told me not to piss him off. ‘Just do your job and stay out of his way,’ were their exact words.”
That was slightly ominous, but Travis seemed to have things in hand well enough.
“We are not leaving. If you’re asking me to leave, then you know what’s going on here, and on whose orders it’s being done. I'm a part of that same guild, and I have every right to be here.”
The Tier 7, who still hadn't given a name, didn't seem bothered in the least. “Well, you may legally be allowed here, but the baroness is clearing this entire area. We expect you to be gone in the next fifteen minutes.”
Travis looked behind him, then checked under his arm as if looking for something. When he finished his theatrics, he had an exaggeratedly surprised look on his face. “Who are you talking to? I don't see anyone else, and I know you aren't talking to me like that. Not in my own home. In a place I'm perfectly within my rights to be at. A place where my guild leader suggested I go.”
“Baroness Varsies has ordered this area cleared. This is her world. She has every right to remove an interloper. If you wish to refute the claim, you can put in an official complaint. We are quite busy right now, so that will take at least half a year, minimum.”
The man's smile showed that he knew exactly what he was doing and trusted the baroness to protect him from any retribution.
The official's grin turned wicked. “If you want to make a direct complaint, you can go voice it in person. The baroness will be happy to show you the correct path.”
Travis jumped in the air and, in a flash of light, transformed into a thirty-foot-long bird. With two flaps of his flaming wings, he was out of sight.
The man's mouth hung open, and Matt was sure an egg could fit inside.
Keith came up and said, “I hope your boss can cash the check your mouth just wrote. Also, get off our property. If you aren't gone in the next thirty seconds, I'll consider you trespassing.”
The bureaucrat clearly didn't think the larger man was bluffing and quickly got behind Jessie. The two of them flew off on the transportation flyer.
Keith grabbed Liz and Aster, who were now standing by Matt, and flew them north.
They were going much faster than the usual speed they flew at. It was so fast, Keith turned on the wind barrier so he could slice through the air better.
They arrived to see a floating and flaming Travis standing with arms crossed in front of a woman with an apologetic expression. She was clearly not putting up a fight.
Before they could get close enough to overhear, Travis turned and headed their way. He was using his ankle flying devices, and his shirt was burned away. His shoulders and hair were still aflame, and when he caught up with them, Keith asked, “What, no show?”
Travis rolled his yellow eyes. “No. She saw how I came in ready for a fight and didn't even try to contest me. At least we won't be bothered again. I made it clear that I would be roasting her if we were bothered again.”
Keith bit the corner of his lip and smirked. Liz caught the look and poked her brother-in-law in the ribs. “Is he getting you hot and bothered?”
She giggled at her bad joke, and all Matt could do was gape at her.
“What the fuck? You can make corny jokes about flames, but I can't make one single redhead joke? This is bullshit. Bullshit of the highest Tier.”
Keith rolled his eyes and tossed all of them off his flying sword while withdrawing the one Matt used from his spatial ring.
“Get yourself back. Also, get dinner on your own. Byeeee.”
With that, he was gone, and Matt tried to stabilize the sword while catching the falling woman and fox.
Liz cursed after her brother-in-law, but he was already a dot on the distant horizon.
“This is all your fault. If you didn't make the bad joke, he would have taken us back.”
Liz shot back immediately, “No! If you didn't start complaining, he would have forgotten about us.”
Their squabbling lasted for the entire hour-long trip back. It was fun, and the only thing they could do for entertainment during the long trip.
They decided to eat dinner in the town and splurge a little bit. They went to a movie after to give the couple as much time as they could. It was dark when they arrived back at the house, but the duo was nowhere to be seen.
While they walked around the city, he brought up the expanding vassal kingdom.
“I think it would be nice to fight monsters and explore places that aren't a barren wasteland for a change. Especially when we don’t have to delve the same few rifts over and over again.”
Matt didn't mind their method of delving into the same rift over and over. It was safe and helped them get to where they were at after all. But he wanted to get out and see the wider Empire.
Liz nodded next to him. “I wouldn't mind. It seems fun. We can even ask Travis and Keith for advice, since they’re usually the first people to explore new planets. Though, I doubt they have any info on a vassal kingdom's expansion. Their guild only explores in the Empire proper.”
“What do we need?”
They each thought over Matt's question for a few minutes before Liz finally said, “We should re-gear and get new equipment. New, larger spatial bags. I don't think that two of the bags will be out of our price range. The rift charging rings though…” Her voice trailed off, “But with your skills as an enchanter improving, maybe you can make a crappy copy? We don't really care about bad efficiency.”
Matt nodded at that. His mana was selling well, and they only expected the price to increase as the news broke.
Refitting their gear was going to be easy enough. The only problem was finding the skilled labor for the job. He wasn't sure whether it would get better or worse with all the people coming to watch the ascension.
As they were going back to their rooms, Matt remembered his shirt for Liz and stopped her.
“Oh, I got you something.”
He couldn't keep the smirk off his face as he dug around his spatial bag for the shirt. The thought of her angry face was making it hard not to cackle in anticipation.
He shoved the bright pink shirt, with half a dozen rainbows and 'Double Princess’ printed in bold along the chest, at her.
Liz didn't get mad or embarrassed like he expected. Instead, she smiled and said, “Thanks, I love it.”
With that, she hugged the shirt and disappeared into her room, leaving Matt standing there with his mouth agape.
Weakly to the closed door, he said, “No. You're supposed to hate it.”
With that, he sulked back to his room.
Matt weaved left, and the bolt of mana splashed harmlessly against a tree in front of him.
He stuck his right arm back, and from the device in his hand, returned with a volley of mana bolts of his own.
His AI didn't register any hits, and he heard Travis just laugh behind him. Instinct, honed through taking repeated stunning bolts in the back, screamed at Matt to increase his altitude and leave the trees. They weren't working as cover, and Matt wanted to use his new flying sword’s greater top speed to his advantage.
The flying sword was one that he and Keith had finally settled on after they spent weeks reviewing various models. Their final decision was a performance Tier 7 model that had a Maximum Mana consumption of 30 MPS. They wanted to future-proof the sword to a degree.
Money wasn't a concern. After Travis forced the baroness to submit, she came over and asked for more mana in exchange for skills and items. She didn't have physical mana stones to spare, but she opened her vaults and personal collections.
