The Path of Ascension: A LitRPG Adventure, page 68
News was going to be spread tomorrow, but her workers were already building massive temporary structures out of mana constructs. Most of the structures were simple bleachers meant to seat as many people as they could.
Even with Dominic ascending with minimal warning, millions were expected to show. And while being unable to see him ascend had no technical bearing on the potency of the benefits, everyone wanted to be close enough to actually see an ascension.
The mana structures were incredibly wasteful, but they didn't have time to build anything else. Besides, more permanent structures would simply go to waste.
The demand for mana really allowed them to splurge on upgrades. Liz got [Water Shield], and the skill shifted to its blood variant with Liz's Talent. It turned the woman into a monster when she got going. The skill, along with the reward from the mini-war on the training world, made it so she didn’t have to brute force everything with [Blood Manipulation], which was mana expensive. Now, she could rely on the skills she had accumulated to automate most of her techniques, letting her use manipulation to tweak the skills.
Aster got an ice-variant spell as well, [Frost]. It would allow her to send out a wave of cold that boosted any ice skills in the area. It was something she wouldn't normally do, and could combo well with Matt's [Hail], making it a potent pick for the ice mage.
Matt decided to forgo a skill for himself and got the entire team refitted with new armor. He just didn't have many usable skill options until Tier 5 unless he wanted something simple like a [Fireball]. But that was too unwieldy for a single shot at the start of a battle. By the time Matt could adequately use most Tier 8 skills, he'd be able to get them through delving.
Liz had a new armor made in a more neutral brown and green pattern without the hardcore winterizing her last set had. It was all made by the baroness’s armor smiths, and it was a solid upgrade to her existing armor.
They even got Aster an armored vest that would protect her back and flank. More importantly, it was made from snow yeti fur, so it attracted ice. Aster used it to grow spikes on her back and flank. But instead of looking fierce, as she intended, she looked like a cute hedgehog. Matt and Liz found it adorable when Aster created the spikes for the first time, while Aster yipped her displeasure.
Matt decided to take Travis's and Keith’s advice and get actual armor, even if it was thin and mostly a backup. Everything but his vambraces were made from standard Tier 5 monster hides. His vambraces, however, were plundered straight from the baroness’s vault. The rift-made Tier 5 forearm armor gave a small strength boost when fighting unarmed and had a slight chance to break bones when barehanded strikes connected. They would be useful not only for fights that involved grappling but would also synergize well with the manipulated fist spikes from [Cracked Phantom Armor].
Still, none of those upgrades helped him escape the sadistic Tier 17 chasing him. The mana bolts from the blaster had a stunning function and would lock the body up for twenty minutes.
Travis liked to talk while Matt drooled on the forest floor.
He would let the topics take him on adventures of conversations so wild, Matt had been sure he was reading from a script or quoting a movie of some sort. After the first ‘talk’ Matt wanted to strangle the man. After the third, he wanted to strangle himself. He had a million tortures ready for when he finally beat the man.
Matt broke from the canopies and leaned back hard, trusting the force of his forward movement and his flying sword’s friction enchantment to keep him on. With a twist of his hips, he swung the blade around, just in time to block a stunning mana bolt. He aimed around the blade and emptied the blaster’s mana crystal in the direction where the bolt had come from.
His AI registered nothing, and as he tried to sink back down to use the trees as cover, he was hit in the side by yet another bolt that locked his body up. [Cracked Phantom Armor] protected him from the branches and impact with the ground, but it did nothing to stop the grinning redhead who landed next to him.
“So, where were we?”
Travis tapped his lower lip and sat down next to Matt. “Oh, yeah, the type of leaf structure on the planet we explored three jobs ago. Oh! First, I need to start with Cathy, the receptionist at the guild. That's how we got the mission. She’s trying to date Maverick, who doesn't even know she exists. But Maverick, he got started...”
Matt watched a bug crawl along the stick he had almost landed on. He wished he had landed a little farther forward, and without [Cracked Phantom Armor] active.
Maybe next time.
40
The area surrounding ground zero was a madhouse. Over the last three months, people had flooded the city in waves. Now, with just three days to go, Matt couldn’t believe the crowds.
Travis and Keith’s flying house was on the leading edge of the clear area. From Matt’s vantage on their balcony, he looked at a wall of people so thick, the sky was only visible by craning his neck vertically.
People had filled in the surrounding areas in numbers he had never imagined. Tier 15 immortals took up most of the space. They either hovered around the floating houses like swarms of flies or took residence in the vast bleachers that had been constructed from mana. Flying devices of every shape and size were on display; each a reflection of their wielder’s personality.
There was only a small portion of the surroundings dedicated to those under Tier 15, and those accommodations were much less cramped. But from Matt’s understanding, they also had amenities that the rest lacked like bathrooms and showers.
It surprised Matt how many people were willing to wait around for a week or longer, just for the chance at a reality shard. The benefits for advancement from watching the ascension were always going to be the same for everyone there. Whether you were able to physically see the event or not had no real bearing on the outcome.
The only real difference was the reality shards.
Each shard was a crystalized moment in time. It would allow those near the shard to experience the same effect as one would if they were present for the moment of ascension. They were incredibly rare and even more valuable. The volume produced during an ascension was equal to only about half the mass of the Ascender.
On top of the general scarcity, they didn’t last for any more than five years before they dissipated on their own.
It led to everyone in the Empire constantly vying to get their hands on the elusive shards. By custom and law, no one was permitted to fight over the shards. That still didn’t stop people from restricting the area near the ascension and then selling access for enormous sums of mana stones.
Matt didn’t need to see over the crest of the nearest mountain to know that the bleachers, floating homes, and flying swords were just as thick for miles out. Being surrounded by this many people, he felt like he was caught in a locust swarm.
He looked to Liz, who was lounging next to him, reading a book on her pad. “I don’t get why people pack themselves in so tight. Wanting to get a reality shard is understandable but look at the price for a spot even a quarter mile out. It’s going for Tier 13 mana stones. And the price is still rising.”
Liz slowly used a finger to turn her digital page and said, “Despite the historical evidence showing no benefit from a closer distance to the ascension, people still think it helps. That, or they just really want to see it.”
Matt shook his head. “I don’t get it. It’s a waste of money. If we weren’t with Travis, I wouldn’t be bothered to come from the other side of the planet.”
Liz shrugged a shoulder distractedly. “Easy to say when you have a front-row seat to the event.”
That stung more than Matt liked.
There was a commotion that brought him out of his meandering thoughts. A wave of murmurs and disgruntled comments passed, as someone moved through the wall of cultivators next to them.
Aunt Helen popped out wearing a sundress and floppy hat. For all the world, she looked like a young woman out on a stroll. Unlike everyone else, she wasn’t using a flying device or a beast form. She was clearly using [Flight]. That was a Tier 38 skill.
She quickly caught sight of the waving Liz and came to the front gate. The defensive shielding was put up after someone had landed on their roof. Keith’s comment that phoenixes were jealous birds did not go over well with either of the siblings, but Matt had found it funny.
Aunt Helen was quickly let in, to the irritation of those flying near them.
The older phoenix opened her arms and pulled both Liz and Matt into a hug. “Oh, it’s so good to see you two.” She pushed them back to arm’s length, carefully inspecting them both, “Good. You both look chipper. You two were a little on edge after the training planet. I’m glad to see you relaxed. Time off is just as important as pushing hard.”
Travis came out of the front door, and it was his turn to be mulled over. He took it with good graces. Even when the much shorter woman started fussing with his hair, he accepted her criticisms with a smile.
Keith just picked the woman up and swung her around, to the delighted giggle of the Tier 24. After the appropriate pleasantries were handled, they made their way into the living room. There, Aunt Helen demanded to hear about Travis and Keith’s latest adventures.
It was late into the night when they were finally preparing to eat. Aunt Helen came into the kitchen.
Matt sputtered, “I, uhh, can leave if you want to do the cooking. I know I’m not very good.”
“Oh, hush. Don’t put yourself down.” Aunt Helen reached out and rubbed his back. “We all started at the bottom. Don’t feel bad for not having a few million years to practice your craft.”
Her smile was sweet and held only understanding.
She waved a hand, and a book appeared. “This is my cookbook. Physical books are best for cooking, as you can make little notes and things.”
Liz had been watching him cook and poked her head over the shorter phoenix’s shoulder and looked at the book with Matt.
“Aunt Helen, that’s not even Empire standard. They aren’t even letters or characters. They look like hieroglyphs.”
The older phoenix, flushing red as her feathered hair, swatted at Liz, who leaned over the woman’s shoulder.
“I pulled out the wrong one.”
Liz wrapped the woman up in a hug from behind and cooed, “Aunt Helen. You are sooooo old!”
“Elizabeth, get out of my kitchen.”
Matt tried not to laugh and bring attention to himself. He couldn’t really believe the woman was so old she predated the current written language system. Or even the character-based languages some of the other powers used.
Liz kept her arms wrapped around the shorter woman and laughed. “This is Travis’s kitchen. Hahaha. You have no power here!”
“Every kitchen I’m in is my kitchen.”
That just made the younger phoenix laugh harder.
Then Aunt Helen brought out the big guns. “I won’t give you even scraps—”
Before she finished, Liz set her down and kissed the woman’s cheek, running out of the room. “Love youuuu.”
Aunt Helen removed a newer cookbook and handed it to Matt. “You can have this one.”
He knew it was a bad idea but had to ask, “Is this also written in a forgotten language?”
The wooden spoon left a stinging spot on his rear end.
“It’s not forgotten.” There was a pause. “I still know it.”
Aunt Helen’s glare dared him to test her further.
Even Matt wasn’t that brave.
Seeing him drop the subject, her smile returned, and she asked, “What were you thinking we should make for dinner? What have you all eaten recently?”
Matt told her, and she just nodded in response. She suggested they cook a pasta heavy fare. Truth be told, he was terrified that the more experienced cook would find him wanting and kick him out of the kitchen. But the phoenix had nothing bad to say.
She had a suggestion or eight, but they were kind and never came across as her lording her experience and knowledge over him. Aunt Helen was happy to help him improve and gave him tips along with every step of the process.
If my cooking instructor could see me, she’d kill to get in my place.
Matt didn’t think he was exaggerating. His instructor had gushed over the woman next to him time and time again after he casually mentioned Helen. She had specifically said she would do anything to meet Helen, let alone cook with her.
I guess it really isn’t what you know. Sometimes, it’s who you know.
In the end, the dinner was better than it had any right to be. They used the materials on hand, but somehow, the Tier 24 made this dish better than any pasta Matt had ever tasted, let alone cooked himself.
Dinner was mostly spent with Aunt Helen getting revenge on Liz by sharing embarrassing childhood stories. Travis and Keith took pleasure in adding details or telling their own stories.
Liz ended up eating half the meal herself in an effort to keep her face down and mouth occupied.
It was time. Matt watched the man step onto the platform gouged from the mountainside, three feet below the surface. According to Travis’s eye-roll-filled explanation, it was the exact place where the Tier 46 had been born. Why he couldn’t have done the ascension a few feet higher was lost on Matt, but in the end, he didn’t care. It was just the frivolity of the strong.
Matt was too busy rehashing everything Travis had gone over with him months ago, when they had first arrived.
Travis sat in front of Matt, and he didn’t know what to think of the Tier 17. He was Liz’s brother, but he was still the strongest person Matt had ever spent an appreciable amount of time with.
Travis sat with legs crossed, and when he spoke, his voice was melodic enough that Matt assumed he was repeating someone else. He said, “Concepts are personal. They’re as unique as the individual.” He cracked an eye open and, in his normal voice, asked, “What was your Concept Phrase again?”
“I Am Endless.” Matt’s spirit quivered at the spoken words. They were right.
Travis nodded. “I’m going to assume that my sister covered most of this, but you have options. Your Concept is vague enough that you can go with anything from abstract geometry to fractals. You can also ground it more in reality or go with something like the time of death. You can go with the heat death of the universe, like Aster is suggesting. Or finally, you can do something most others can’t do. Incorporate yourself into the Image.”
“I haven’t seen anything about that. That seems pretty perfect for me. My Phrase has ‘I’ in it.”
Travis just smiled, saying, “Go ahead and try to picture something with you in it. Take your best, firmest, Concept, and add yourself.”
Matt did as he said, and pictured the bubbling spring, and added himself sitting on the beach. The Image shattered as soon as he placed the thought of his own presence.
Travis grinned at Matt’s slight jerk. “Yeah. Putting yourself in the Image makes it a million times harder to form. It also comes with some drawbacks. You need to make the Image of yourself not only reflect ‘you’ now, but also link it to yourself in the future. You have to allow the Image to grow with you. If you don’t, your Concept itself will impede your growth, as it’ll lock yourself into the ‘you’ of when you created it.”
“If it’s that hard, there have to be some advantages to doing it then, right?”
Travis’s grin turned feral. “Ohh, yeah. It’s a massive power boost, and it focuses your power inward. Most Concepts affect the outside world. If you put yourself there, they can boost both outward and inward power. My Concept is ‘I will hold up the sky.’ I have myself as my Image, with the sky on my shoulders. When the pressure mounts and the going gets tough, I get stronger and faster. My spells hit that much harder. My Concept doesn’t do much, except when I feel truly threatened.”
That sounded really nice to Matt. He wanted that kind of power. To be faster and stronger.
“It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. I can’t do what someone who has a fire Concept can do. I can’t control other flames or anything. All of my power is internal and can only be realized when I cast spells. But if I had a spell Concept, it would be stronger. Still, it fits me pretty well.”
Travis shifted around, twisting and cracking his back with a loud pop before he continued, “Okay. So, ‘endless’ can mean a lot of things, and you should work on figuring out what it means to you in particular. There are no wrong answers here, but your Image will heavily influence how your Concept expresses itself. A sun, like you’re currently working on, might give you fire powers, or just give you an internal fire that won’t run out. Giving stamina and possibly more mana. Once your Image is firm, you can feel what kind of effect it’ll have. Then you can work on your mental image of it and tweak the effect a bit.”
They worked on his Image for only an hour. Travis insisted that they needed a break and overworking could lead the mind into ruts that could be hard to escape.
“What can I expect from the ascension? I can only find that it will help online, nothing about how it helps exactly.”
Travis had laid down in the interval and had his feet crossed as if he had not a worry in the world.
He probably doesn’t.
“The ascension will weaken the walls of reality, and your mind will travel down its various paths much easier. You’ll find inspiration, and the Image or Phrases you think of will be better. It will also let you solidify the Image more efficiently. But any progress you make during the ascension won’t be lost if you don’t complete your Concept during it.”
Matt looked at the older man and decided to ask, “What are you working for? Your Intent?”
Travis nodded. “I’ve had my Concept since Tier 8, and I’ve been working on my Intent from then till now. I don’t think this will be what gets me there, but it’ll definitely help. Intents and Aspects are much harder to make than a Concept. You need a lot of time with the lower level to make the jump. I’ve only had it for a hundred years, give or take. That’s a pretty short time frame for making an Intent.”
