The path of ascension 2.., p.43
The Path of Ascension 2: A LitRPG Adventure, page 43
Matt thought on it hard, and Gregor let him. The man didn’t look at all impatient as the time dragged on. “If I finish The Path and become a representative of the Empire, I’ll either quickly be killed or worse, and lose something. Sorry, I can’t guess more than that. I come from a Tier 4 world.”
Gregor just nodded. “Yes, exactly. You fall close enough into the same category that people with seeker Talents fall into, so I can apply the same rules to your situation. I can’t think of a single instance where someone could create and refill rifts fast enough for it to be useful. But the seeker rules apply well enough. That was why I had you fight in the rifts. The Tier 5 was to prove you weren’t incompetent. The Tier 6 was to see how good you really were. When that wasn’t a challenge, I pushed you into a Tier 7 rift. I would have counted it as a success if you had been able to retreat without my help.”
“But we didn’t. We finished the rift.”
The Tier 41 looked at Liz and grinned at her statement. “Yes. Yes, you did. You are your parents’ daughter, Elizabeth.”
Liz flinched slightly, but Gregor continued as if he hadn’t noticed, “Your siblings are fine cultivators. Better than average in most ways, but you are just like your parents when they were climbing. “
Liz didn’t seem to take that complement well and hunched in on herself.
Gregor moved on. He looked to Matt, and finally got to the point that Matt felt he was working up to. “After Tier 10 on The Path, if someone does well in the tournament, and seems to have the drive, they are given a management team. They are offered to seekers early, to either push them forward on or entirely off The Path. Depending on how strong the Pather is, they are offered three levels of help.
“The first is a safe place to sell items to the Empire for contribution points or mana stones. All seekers get that. The second level involves you getting a manager who will monitor your progress, and will encourage you to push yourself, but nothing really special. They mostly check up on you and make sure you aren’t slipping. Finally, for the real monsters with outstanding potential, they get the Tier 10 treatment and a full team to assist them.
“That means a full-time manager who has at least a few centuries of experience overseeing your development, and a trainer who will make sure your performance is up to snuff and will also push you to your limits. There is also someone to help cultivate any secondary abilities that you have. Finally, you will have a liaison who handles the interaction between you and the team. They will also handle everything from PR to scheduling the rifts that the trainer suggests. They’re usually the most junior person on the handling team, trying to work their way up to manager. But they’re the ones that will spend time with you, and deal with the bullshit of trying to hide your identities. The team isn’t there to hold your hand or give you free things, just keep you moving and challenged. Their goal is to make you the best version of yourself. But pushing forward is still on you.”
Gregor stretched and laughed a deep belly laugh. “The Tier 5 rift was to see if you were lying. The Tier 6 was to see if you deserved the second level of treatment. If you could retreat out of the Tier 7 rift, I was going to recommend the highest level. As you finished it, I’m sure I can push through the full team to back you up. At mid-Tier 5, completing a fully charged Tier 7 rift is impressive.”
The Tier 41 looked between Liz, Matt, and Aster. “It’s up to you if you want this, though. I can just give you access to the Empire sellers or give you everything. Just note that once you choose, there is no changing the decision. If you choose to take the full team, you will be taking on expectations. Even if you fall off, you will be expected to help the Empire. With your abilities, I doubt you would see frontline fighting, but I don’t decide that. Let me put it this way, if you take the full team, you will be pushed forward or off The Path entirely. There will be no waiting at the peak age of a Tier and advancing slowly.”
Matt looked to Liz, and then back to Gregor. “Can we talk alone?”
The Tier 41 nodded and, before vanishing, said, “I’ve removed your AI interceptors. Just message me when you’re done.”
With a beep to Matt’s AI with his ID, Gregor was gone.
“What do you think?” Both Liz and Matt asked at the same time, causing them to chuckle.
Liz looked awkward and shrugged. “This is up to you, Matt. I wouldn’t be in this position without you. I can’t make it for you.”
Matt grabbed her hand. She looked so lonely at the moment. He needed to stop that.
“Liz. I’m not leaving you. If you decide to leave The Path right now, I’ll walk off with you.”
“That’s not fair.”
Matt laughed. “Who cares about fair? Liz, I started The Path as a way to get off my shithole planet and not work myself to the bone. I would have taken any out. I’m with you. Always.”
Liz looked misty-eyed, and she wiped the budding tears with her free hand. “Honestly, the only reason I’m on the Path is to escape my parents. To prove that I don’t need their help. But apparently, I’ve been relying on them more than I ever knew. Even my “perfect” mind, body, and spirit are better because of them. It’s like they gave me a gift I couldn’t refuse, nor return. I don’t even know if I ever left their influence.”
A frustrated look marred her face while she spat off to the side, “My parents’ daughter?! It’s like everything that I am and everything I accomplish is because of what they’ve gifted me. I don’t know why I’m on The Path anymore, if everything I accomplish is because of them. What would I be if I never had those advantages? What If I was born to a lower Tier couple? Would I be useless?
With her voice threatening to break, Matt pulled her into a hug, which she thankfully didn’t resist. He just held her, his chin on her shoulder. After a few moments, he voiced the thoughts he had been having since they returned from the auction. “The Path might be more of a hassle than it’s worth. Without the restrictions, we could do a lot more. So, why stay? I can only think that it would be nice to be famous, but that’s shallow. I also want to protect the Empire, as weird as those sounds. I never would have seen myself doing that, but for all its faults, the Empire at least tries. Even just looking at the vassal kingdom is enough to see what it could turn into. All it would take is a few people in power who don’t care about the common man. I-I think I’d like to be one of those people who prevent that.”
Liz nodded into his shoulder. “The last bit is the same for me. I love my parents, as much as I hate being under their shadow. Even while growing up, they tried to spend as much time as they could with me, but I could still see how busy they were. I always wanted to help. If you’re up for it, I’m game. I think we can go the distance. Or at least you can. I don’t know if I really am pulling my own weight.”
Matt scoffed at her last statement and gave her a gentle squeeze. “Stop that, Liz. I wouldn’t have been able to handle the Tier 7 rift alone. Sure, I could fight the golem, but I would have never killed it. The scorpions would have surrounded me and cut me to pieces in minutes. We’re a team. We cover each other’s weaknesses. I don’t hit that hard right now, and you do. Together, we’re stronger than the sum of our parts. We do this together, or not at all.”
She didn’t look as sure as he would have wanted, but she nodded.
Finally, she said, “Let’s do it. Added pressure isn’t bad. And this way, we still have the tax exemption.”
With the decision agreed on, Matt messaged Gregor. The Tier 41 appeared so quickly Matt had to wonder if he had just been invisible.
“From the smiles, I take it you have decided to push. ‘Ride the tiger,’ as it were?”
“Yes.”
“Great! I’m sure there will be no issues in getting the approval with the recording of your Tier 7 rift run, but it will take a bit of time to get a team ready. Maybe six months to a year.”
That caused a spike of fear to cross Matt’s gut. More people seeing his Talent wasn’t exactly what he was looking for. “Who will approve it?”
“The Emperor himself has the final say so. That’s who oversees all the investigators. But there is a tribunal to go through first. Don’t worry about them, they run the day-to-day operations of The Path, and they are trusted. “
That caused Matt to breathe a sigh of relief. The Emperor would already know of his Talent, and this tribunal sounded important enough to have restrictions placed on themselves.
Gregor made some goodbyes, and Matt decided to ask one last question. “Why did you give Aster ice cream?”
The Tier 41 laughed. “She traded it for her AI recordings. I’m an evolved beast, so I just asked. It’s an easy way to corroborate stories. Many people who cheat with bonds forget to block their AI.” The man also glanced to the side. “I was able to corroborate it, which is all that matters.”
Matt turned to his bond and glared at her smug fox smile. She had sold them out.
Gregor turned around and pointed at Matt.
“Oh, that reminds me. I’m fining you twenty-five Tier 5 mana stones for being in violation of The Path’s birth control regulations. Your implant fell out of your arm when you ate the Tree of Perfection root.”
27
Matt just looked down at his arm. He had felt pain there when he had gone through the cleansing but had completely forgotten about the implant that he had received the day he arrived at the PlayPen. It had simply been too long ago and wasn’t relevant to him at the moment.
They were alone. Matt was about to question Gregor’s fast disappearance when he got a message from his AI about getting access to the Empire’s internal contribution point systems and exchanges.
He ignored it and looked at Liz. “Did that just happen? I’m still in shock honestly.”
She plopped to the ground and said, “Did you see the message?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you look at it yet?”
“Nope.” Matt just didn’t care at the moment. Sitting next to Liz, with Aster sprawled across this lap, was worth more. After the high tension of being accused of cheating and fighting in a Tier 7 rift, he needed a moment to mentally reset.
“Me either.”
They watched the sunrise for nearly an hour as they sat there, just enjoying the quiet companionship.
Finally, Liz bumped his side and asked, “Can we go get a proper room and just crash for the rest of the day? I’m exhausted, and a real bed sounds amazing. I could use one.”
Nodding, he pulled Liz to her feet, and the three of them flew back to the city. They reserved the best room that the nicest hotel had. It cost a Tier 8 mana stone for the weekend, but they had money to burn, and decided to splurge a little.
A long shower and having breakfast delivered led to them sitting on the bed in the provided robes and pecking at the spread of food. It was heavier than they usually ate, and Matt made a note to get the chef’s pancake recipe, as they clearly did something different, but he couldn’t guess what. Either way, it was divine, and he wanted to see what he could do with it himself.
It was mid-afternoon when they slowly woke up from their nap and got moving, but none of them were in the mood for anything strenuous. So, they walked around the growing town and window shopped. Matt only broke off long enough to get his birth control reimplanted. It was so fast; he was back with Liz and Aster before they left the shoe shop that they were in.
Matt decided to check the message he received this morning about the Empire Market and was shocked by the numerous items listed. They only had access to the Tier 5 and below market, but there was everything and everything listed. He was shocked to find that the market’s biggest ticket items were in fact, growth items.
There were even crafters of all types selling their services, and it wasn’t limited by Tier. If he wanted to spend a few thousand Contribution Points for a Tier 7 tailor to make him a leather vest, like the under armor he was wearing now, it was possible.
He came to a list of Tier 8 skills that he was interested in. As of now, it was unlikely that he could find the rarer ones listed on his own, even with his creation of rifts. They were still the lowest priority, though, as the rifts that dropped them were known quantities. When they increased in Tier, they could farm the rifts in question with some travel and rift charging.
In the end, his eyes kept being drawn back to the growth items section. It only took a quick search with his AI to find items that interested him in the massive list. Thankfully, everything had descriptions and tags to help narrow the search. Otherwise, even his AI would have been lost in the endless array of items.
The list was as long as the prices were high. Matt wasn’t sure what ten thousand Contribution Points equaled in mana stones, but that was the typical price for the average but good swords, like the fire sword they had found and sold for a Tier 15 mana stone.
He quickly found a few items that were close enough to their last sale for him to be able to get a figure for comparison.
It wasn’t great.
The best and most expensive weapons he saw all had more exotic or rare effects, while still being Tier 5. They were, like most growth items, worth tens of thousands of Contribution Points. One bastard sword had the ability to negate its own weight, so it was as light as a feather, but the wielder could flicker the effect on and off at will. On top of that, the item grew heavier as it Tiered up. It cost thirty thousand contribution points.
That’s a lot of rifts delving to get a sword like that.
When he read the description, he was surprised at what some of the weapons could do. After skimming through the list for what felt like an hour, Matt found that doubling an elemental aspect was the most common effect on the list. It seemed to set the standard price for the rest of the growth items.
He could understand the draw, especially for any melee fighter who was branching into a hybrid fighting style. It was a massive boost to combat prowess that few things could equal up to, if you wanted to specialize in a single elemental type. Matt didn’t think it was ideal, unless you had a Talent to bolster the elemental affinity, or naturally aspect your mana. But it allowed people to specialize and increase their mastery over their skills. They could grow and strengthen a select few skills, instead of spreading themselves out.
From everything he read, it was a valid and successful strategy to get to Tier 14 safely. After that, when time mattered less, people could branch out, and widen their pool of skills to cover their weaknesses. At that point, they wouldn’t have to worry about old age cutting their advancement short.
If a cultivator only delved the already known rifts that didn’t counter them, it was fine, but Matt and Liz didn’t have that luxury. He created his own rifts, and they delved them blind. It meant that they had to be prepared for any and everything.
Speaking of luxury…
Matt thought of their room and accessed the EmpireNet. He liked living with Travis and Keith. It would be nice to have that comfort, along with Liz and Aster. A quick search killed that thought process. Even the smallest and best made flying houses needed a Tier 13 spirit to handle the stress of using the spatial runes. That spirit limitation meant that even the easiest to bag away houses were much more expensive, and in bulkier bags instead of a convenient ring.
Matt shrugged it off and went back to the Empire Contribution Point Market. He kept browsing the items while they sat on a park bench.
Out of morbid curiosity, he cleared his previous search and looked for the most expensive growth item. When he saw it, he blanched.
One hundred and twenty thousand Contribution Points for a cloak that absorbed all void damage of its own Tier and could repair itself with ambient mana. The price was still increasing, as it was placed as an auction, instead of a straight sale. The damn thing had two days left as well meaning the price would only increase.
“Fuck!” He wasn’t able to control himself, and it slipped out, causing Liz to look over at him in question.
“Sorry. I looked at the most expensive growth item and was shocked.”
Liz just shrugged. After her eyes flickered for a moment, she said, “It’s a lot. But anything that protects against void always sells for a lot.” She paused and then added, “Have you seen anything you want in particular? I was checking out prices, and if we delve for a few decent growth items, we can kit ourselves out. Buying too many growth items isn’t great because of the spiritual stress, but one more for each of us isn’t a bad idea. The only problem is finding the items to upgrade them, but it’s not that hard while still under Tier 15.”
Matt didn’t see a reason to disagree. He was still tired from the long night of delving the Tier 7 rift, even after his nap. But now, the new shopping platform was holding his attention. There were just too many things that he wanted.
If he was being honest with himself, he was at least mildly interested in almost every item listed. But after a few hours of scrolling through the various growth items, he found one that he felt paired well with him.
As he laid in their bed, he reviewed it for the umpteenth time.
While not perfect, the growth item was relatively cheap, and it accentuated his existing advantages more than a powerful enchantment would. Really, it was as good for his combat style as he could ask for. It had drawbacks that kept the price reasonable but wouldn’t hinder him in any meaningful way.
It was a longsword that bordered on greatsword length. Even for his height, it was longer than most preferred, but he liked that added reach and weight. Unlike most growth items, it had a distinctly lackluster growth aspect. However, it had the ability to take on different enchantments, which was rare to the point that it was nearly unheard of. Growth items usually just had their unique effect and were unable to do anything else. This one was able to purge itself for a new enchantment, at the cost of materials of its Tier and a lot of mana. Just as improving upon the sword itself did.
The only downsides were that the weapon was heavier than most swords of its Tier, and it had to be enchanted by the person it was bound to.
