The Path of Ascension

Chapter 141

Quill sidestepped the bear's raking claw and shot a [Jolt] at the raging monster.

The bear shrugged off the attack with an annoying resistance that it had exhibited with all of his attacks so far.

If he had his sword, he could have made short work of the monster, but at Tier 13, it was just too strong for the average spell.

Torch was fighting a second bear and was having the same problem.

What the bears had in defensive power, they lacked in offensive power, so they were forced to slowly whittle the monsters down. It was in stark contrast to overwhelming the first two bears they came across with a few talismans.

Still, this was good training that the two of them didnt want to pass up. He added the personal restriction of killing the monster without resorting to talismans, but that decision was putting him in a pickle.

The bears had too much defensive power for Quills spells.

Most skills he sent out were dissipated by the bear's thick fur and hide, so he gave up on the normal spells, and decided to use one of his anti-monster skills.

Quill backstepped a lunging bite that was empowered with mana as he started to charge one of the few spells built into his staff.

A small marble-sized orb of fire lit up, then started to absorb all the heat from their surroundings as it accumulated power.

The attack took up to a whole minute to charge, but Quill focused on keeping his distance and using his off-hand to send attack after attack into the monster's face. It wasn't meant for solo fights; he usually only relied on it when Torch was protecting him. But against one bear, he would be fine.

He cast a few spells from Quills limited non-talisman arsenal, but they didnt do more than piss the monster off for the few seconds that it was blinded. It was still more than enough to help Quill keep his distance.

When the skill was finally done drawing in the energy it needed, he twirled his staff to have the orb facing the monster. When the bear lunged once again, he pushed the orb of concentrated fire into the monster's skull.

The marble-sized orb of fire punched right through the monster's thick head, and kept moving. The spell wasn't meant to explode, i would just keep moving forward at a slow and steady pace.

As it bore a hole through the monster, the orb of fire kept its momentum and began searing a hole through the ground at a constant rate.

As he watched the orb continue, Quill did some quick calculations with his AI, and realized that hed gone a bit overboard with the attack.

He had been forced to stab the orb downward as he sidestepped the bears mana empowered jaws, but his miscalculation meant that the orb would burrow through the ground for at least a few hundred feet. He intended to have the orb carve out a shallow rut in the surface of the earth, but had to change his attack angle to avoid injury.

Normally, he wouldnt have to worry about burrowing such a depth. But with this entire place being spatially expanded, he worried there were spatial anchors buried in the ground nearby, and he didnt want to risk hitting one.

Seeing that Torch was whittling her monster down, and didnt need his help, he called out, A bud needs assistance!

As if the woman had already been standing next to him, a gardener appeared and was looking at the hole in the ground with pursed lips.

She clenched her fist, and the light coming out of the hole vanished before she turned to look at him. Don't use that spell outside of a rift, please.

Before he could respond, she was gone, and he moved to wait for Torch to end her fight.

After seeing just how the attack worried the woman, he didnt intend to. The spell was a brainchild of Matt and Erwin, from when they had created the array staff.

One of the largest weaknesses of a mage was the inability to pierce heavy armor, and they wanted to have a counter to that weakness.

The fire orb was their answer. It collected all the fire mana and heat energy it could in the surroundings, while guzzling mana from Quill at a fantastic rate, to create an incredibly hot but stable orb of fire.

Not much could stop that level of heat concentrated into such a small area, and it was able to deliver massive damage.

It needed to be precisely aimed, as its attack radius was so small, but that wasn't a problem for Quill.

As Torch had finally cut a hole in her bear's side, her spear was able to puncture the monster's heart.

She turned, and after seeing his monster with a clean-cut hole in its head, said, Cheater.

Always! he said with a small bow, flourishing an imaginary cape and making his mask wink.

The two of them sat down to pretend to absorb mana stones and refill themselves before they kept moving through the forest, fighting pairs of bears as they encountered them.

Eventually, they came to a part of the forest where it seemed like someone with a map of the landscape had changed the topography with a hard line.

As this was their fourth area, they weren't surprised when they entered a more rocky terrain. If their estimates were right, the beacon which signified a Tier 13 rift was only two or three areas away.

Once again, they tried to fly, only to be thwarted by anti-flying formations when they crossed the boundary into the new area.

So far, only the second area didnt have the formation, so they weren't too surprised by the restriction.

They were only feet into the area when a stone covered snake struck out at Torch, who was in the lead.

She blocked the attack with her spear shaft, but was pushed back a few feet over the rocky ground.

As the monster was only Tier 12, Quill readied a talisman while looking around for others.

So far, in all the areas they had been in, the lower the Tier of the monster, the more of them there were.

A slight shifting of rocks gave the next snake away, and before it lunged, he activated the [Ice Spear] talisman that he had readied.

The spell met the snake's lunging head and exploded in a shower of ice, while carving a ravine into the monster's hide that drew only the smallest lines of blood.

The attack was enough to distract the monster, and it coiled back up as it shook its head in pain.

With a moment to actually think, Quill brought out two of his wind talismans and sent a [Wind Slash] at the monster.

With the elemental advantage, the attack cut the snake in half at the midpoint of its body. Even bisected, the monster tried to attack while bleeding out. But with half of its body gone, the lunge was uncoordinated, and his second [Wind Slash] vertically sliced the lunging half in two.

The two new snake fillets fell to the ground in a heap.

Torch had finally given up burning through the hide of the monster, and shoved her spear through her snake's mouth. Meanwhile Quill used the limited range of his flying devices to scout their surroundings.

A third and fourth snake were quickly dispatched by a few talismans, and they moved deeper into the crags of the new area.

The rock snakes were soon accompanied by Tier 13 water snakes, who could only be killed by siphoning off all the water that comprised their second layer of scales before being able to damage the flesh underneath.

Torch was finishing off two of the stone snakes when Quill heard barking and howling.

The sound was obviously not a snake, so they decided to rush to the top of a small hill, where they could get a better view.

There, they found a familiar friend.

Fen, from the golem war, with his two wolf bonds, Bow and Arrow.

Seeing an old friend, Matt asked Liz through their AI, I want to go say hi. How do we not blow our cover?

Her message back was nearly instant, Bow and Arrow shouldn't be able to smell us with the two layers of masks, which is the real worry. Let's just go over and offer a hand. They aren't struggling, but theyre moving pretty slow with all the monsters.

Matt checked the direction Fen seemed to be going and added, Seems like he's going for the center of the area.

The unsaid addition was that they had found Tier 14 monsters in most of the centers of the areas they had passed so far. That was a level of challenge they werent willing to fight for no reason.

Still, it gave them an excuse to move over to Fen and offer their assistance.

With that decided, the two of them slipped back into their masked personas and moved over to the group of man and beast.

Keeping their distance, as they didnt want the man to think they were an ambush, Quill raised his hand in a wave.

Well, good day, and fancy seeing someone else out here on the wild side!

Fen paused and looked to Bow then Arrow before returning the wave. Yes, kinda suspicious that you come up upon us, though. You wouldn't have bad intentions, would you?

All three of them seemed to prepare for a fight, but Quill laughed as he took the initiative to slide down the rocky hill.

Walking forward with his hands out, he let both bonds sniff him. Not at all. More curious than anything. You seemed to want to push into the center of this place, and Torch and I have been wanting to peek behind whatever the Tier 14s are hiding, but we also want to reach that Tier 13 rift.

Matt pointed along the direction Fen was heading and the pillar of light behind it.

Fen understood what he meant and said, I can offer 10 points for each of you if you help us take the Tier 14 out and leave the treasure to me.

Torch, who had arrived, shook her head silently.

Quill made his mask smile and said, We dont want your points, but we do want to handle the Tier 14 ourselves. The rewards are your own.

Bow moved forward and started sniffing Quill and Torch before Arrow followed up and did the same.

Having spent time with the beasts before, neither of them were bothered, and gave them a quick scratch behind the ears.

That seemed to win Fen over, and he nodded. I can take that deal, even though I dont understand what youre getting out of it.

Really, he just wanted to help a friend. But knowing he was acting suspiciously, and needing to allay Fen's concerns, Quill said, Fighting a Tier 14 will make for a fantastic showing. Doing so for no reason is just stupid, though. This way, you get the rewards hidden behind the monster, while we get to show our skills and earn the points from killing the beast.

That seemed to mollify the man, and he stuck out a hand and introduced himself and his bonds.

Im Fen, and those are Bow and Arrow. To Quill's surprise, he then pointed off to the side. That's Garnet and Ruby.

An absolutely massive porcupine trundled out from behind a hill, with a similarly oversized earthworm swimming through the earth next to it.

At the name Garnet, the porcupine nodded, which meant the earthworm was Ruby. Its red skin kinda resembled the gem, but Matt wanted to make fun of Fens awful naming sense.

Both creatures seemed to be earth attuned. As Garnet, the porcupine, moved, the very ground seemed to reach out to meet each of his steps. Ruby, on the other hand, seemed to burrow through the stony ground as if it was the loosest of loam.

With an added surprise, a small mouse with golden fur scampered out onto Fen's shoulder and squeaked at them.

Fen obliged and said, And this is Kenny, my Golden Mouse.

Quill couldn't help but whistle. So I assume that your Talent is your bonds?

Fen didnt bother to hide it. Yeah. Only reason Im able to bring them with me.

Wanting confirmation, he nodded to Kenny and asked, Golden Mice have a seeker like Talent, right? So he's leading you to a treasure?

Fen just nodded, but was quick to add, His treasure sense is only attuned to things a beast wants or needs.

The implied he cant help you was obvious, but Quill ignored it. The Golden Mice were famous for their ability to find things of value, but they were as rare and hard to find as the treasures they sought, which was why Quill was surprised that Fen had one as a bond.

Still, he didn't press.

Torch tersely said, Maze rift.

Quill expanded, Then you should try some maze rifts. Fucking things are a puzzle, and he might be good at leading you out.

Fen cocked his head in a larger mirror image of Kenny, still on his shoulder, and the little mouse chittered at him for a long moment.

Fen finally smiled and said, That's a good suggestion. Thanks.

Before things could grow awkward, Quill gestured to the larger hill and said, Want to watch us kill a Tier 14?

Fen grinned back a challenge. Can the two of you do it? We were planning on clearing the area before luring the Tier 14 out and into a trap. We can still do that if you aren't confident.

Torch snorted, to which Quill laughed. A Tier 14 is a challenge for sure, but not one we can't handle.

Bow snorted at the words, and Arrow chuffed in laughter.

Quill hip-checked the closer Arrow, who just laughed harder.

Together, the eight of them easily carved a path to the center of the area, where the largest hill seemed to be dug into to create a massive nest.

At least a dozen Tier 13 snakes and a mass of the Tier 12 variants slithered over each other in the center clearing,making it hard to get a feel for their numbers. All of them rested around a giant snake that must have been a hundred feet long, and thirteen feet thick at the middle.

Its scales were a green that seemed hewn from jade and glimmered in the light. The monster clearly sensed them, as its head rose up from the ground and glared at the two teams.

Each eye was as large as a dinner plate, and as the monster took a deep breath, lightning gathered around its two large, exposed fangs.

The hiss it let out sent all the other snakes into a frenzy, and they slithered forward en masse.

Without needing to coordinate, Quill and Torch raced forward and moved to engage the Tier 14, while Fen took care of all the weaker monsters.

A lightning bolt the size of a tree lashed out at Torch, but she was already prepared, and a wash of flame intercepted the attack, rendering it useless.

Quill cursed internally as he called out, Thats [Bolt], careful!

[Bolt] was the Tier 14 version of [Jolt] and hit far, far harder than the Tier 8 skill they were familiar with.

Torch waved her spear, and a trio of [Fireball]s shot out and slammed into the monster's hide.

The Tier 14s innate defenses were more than enough to defend against the attack, and only small scorch marks were left where the spell landed.

Knowing this would be a hard fight, Quill pulled out a pair of talismans.

The first he pressed to his chest, and the second he threw into the air as the movement talisman sent power into him.

The talisman was a mixture of strength, flexibility, durability, and proprioception increases, which let him fight against the higher Tier monsters that moved so much faster than them.

Thankfully, the difference wasn't so great that they needed to use mind talismans to keep up. Increasing those attributes led to massive headaches that lingered for weeks.

He knew Torch had already used the same talisman, as a countdown indicator had appeared on his AI. They had only seven minutes to kill the Tier 14 monsters before the talismans wore off, and they would need time to recover from pushing their bodies so hard.

In theory, they could use a second talisman, but at that point, they would need serious healing afterwards.

Quill activated the second talisman as he ran up a hill, and shot out an oversized [Wind Lance]. The narrow jet of air was meant to penetrate the hardest of armor by sending all of its damage into a single spot. It wasn't as strong as his fire orb, but the skill was faster to cast.

The jet of air cracked the hard scales of the monster, causing it to hiss and turn its attention to Quill and send a [Bolt] at him.

Having hoped for that exact scenario, he activated the [Earth Barrier] talisman he had prepared, along with a general [Mana Barrier].

The brown mana solidified into actual rock before the light blue mana barrier appeared behind it.

The explosion of the [Bolt] hitting the barriers caused Quill's ears to ring painfully, but he had confirmation that a single [Earth Barrier] could tank the monster's attack head-on, which was a comforting realization.

Rushing out from his dome of protection, he was just in time to see Torch flying next to the monster's head, slamming a massive fire version of her spear into the monster's head.

The [Fire Spear] was an incredibly strong skill when paired with Lizs innate phoenix bloodline, despite the skill only being in her outer spirit. It helped that her spear was made with that particular skill in mind, and boosted its power.

The attack left a deep, cauterized wound in the monster's head, but didnt pierce the Tier 14's thick skull.

Quill pulled out three talismans and tossed all of them in the air after completing the runes inside with a tiny bit of mana, to activate their latent power.

The [Wind Blade] activated first and left a shallow line on the monster's hide, while the [Fire Burst] detonated just in time to empower the [Wind Lance] as it passed through the skill.

The fire empowered [Wind Lance] created a much larger crack in the snake's hide, and it whipped its tail at Quill in rage.

The attack was so blindingly fast, he was only able to activate a [Mana Barrier] before the impact. The single defensive spell was far from enough, and he was sent flying into the rocky wall.

Climbing out of the hole, Quill felt at least one cracked rib. If not for the talisman increasing his durability, he would have been in a much worse state.

Torch had been forced to dodge a series of bites from a head that was larger than she was, but she had left a series of shallow cuts on the monster's head in retaliation.

With a flick of his wrist, Quill sent out an [Ice Spear] and [Wind Wall] to speed the attack up while it was in flight.

The combination sent the chuck of ice deep into the snake's flank, and earned him another tail whip. But this time, he was prepared, and he quickly flew over the racing tree trunk.

Torch immediately took the monsters attention back with her attacks at its head and eyes.

They engaged in a few more rounds of attacks, but with the power levels their masked identities were allowed to show, killing the giant snake would take a few minutes longer than they had left with their talisman buffs.

After running the calculations again, he came to a decision.

Quill called out, Firestorm incoming! Buy me thirty seconds.

At that command, he pulled out thirteen talismans. With a twist of his wrist, his staff bloomed, and he used his Concept to guide the pieces of parchment into their correct locations.

[Firestorm] was his low-level version of the Tier 32 skill [Meteor Shower], and took a full thirteen talismans in an array to cast.

It was his most complicated skill, only matched by a similar version that he was saving for the solo fights, since it didnt pair as well with Torch.

As fast as he could, he started linking the talismans in the proper sequence. Then, once he had everything in place, he sent a flood of mana into the talismans and jammed his staff into the ground.

Nothing happened for a long second, but as he continued to flood the talismans with mana, they finally activated. All the while, he was careful to keep his mana usage under the limit of a normal Tier 10 mage's mana pool to maintain his cover.

From a hundred feet above them, the sky started to light up as dozens of [Fireball]s started to manifest, and they rushed downward like a deadly version of rain.

As if it was endless, the storm of fire incinerated the area around the boss.

Each impact of the overcharged [Fireball]s created a crater, as they each were created with obscene amounts of mana. Unlike the last, self-cast [Fireball]s, [Firestorm] blasted apart the Tier 14 scales as if they were mundane slates of shale.

The snake, sensing that it was unable to escape the area of bombardment, coiled up in a tight spiral. It tried to make itself as small as possible while trying to intercept the rain of fire with its own [Bolt]s.

Quill watched as Torch pulled back from the monster and started to twirl her spear around her head.

This was phase two of their combination attack, and all of the [Fireball]s that would have missed the snake started to redirect themselves as she took control of his mana.

They had spent months perfecting this attack, and even as his mana generation was draining to assist the talismans for their final activation, he watched her gathering the attacks.

The snake tucked its head, just trying to weather the storm, but Quill just smiled, knowing how futile that was.

As the final portion of the spell activated, the parchment papers crumbled to dust, and a single, oversized [Fireball] was created. At twenty feet across, the spell had nearly a third of the mana that the talismans had cost during their creation.

It was the descent of a sun.

Lizs armor's defenses flared to life, and she was encased in fire as she used it to increase her [Fire Manipulation] control. She looked like a fire elemental as she brought her spear down in a chopping motion, guiding the massive [Fireball] onto the Tier 14 snake.

Quill hit the ground and activated two [Water Barrier] talismans, then a [Earth Barrier], as he waited for the impact.

When the [Fireball] landed and released its stored energy, the world went white for an instant, and the ground rumbled in a small earthquake.

Even under the barriers, he felt the rush of Tier 14 essence that signified they had killed the beast.

As his defenses crumbled, Quill found himself in a circle of blackened ground that had been swept clean of loose rocks and anything not rooted to the ground.

At the center of the desecration was a crater, where the Tier 14 snake lay in large, scorched black pieces.

Torch still hovered in the air, but Quill could see it was taking everything she had to not fall over. Guiding that much energy for the final attack always put her on her butt for hours.

Now, she was pushing through because everyone in the Empire would be watching.

Jogging over to where she was descending, Quill sat down next to her, and they pulled out mana stones and started to run them through converters, to give everyone a show of them being out of mana.

In reality, they were using Tier 1 mana stones, and Matt was abusing his Concept.

With a rapidly filling mana pool, Torch was able to stabilize herself, but they were both hurting from the physical boosting talisman.

Only a minute later, Fen popped his head over the edge of a hill and said, What the fuck was that!? Are you guys fucking crazy!? You almost fried us as well!

Quill waved the man over as he said, You were fiiiine. The hills protected you! I made sure before I cast the spell.

He really had checked first. While Fen might not know Quill was Matt, he wasnt going to risk a friend's safety like that.

That seemed to mollify the man, and he trekked over with his five bonds in a slow procession as they inspected the destroyed corpse of the Tier 14.

Bow and Arrow moved in unison as they sniffed the monster's corpse before pulling chucks of the charred monster's flesh away. They quickly revealed the non-burnt flesh underneath, and they started to grab a meal's worth for all the bonds.

Even the mouse, Kenny, was given a small chunk to gnaw on.

Fen seemed used to that, and sat down with the three of them and started to recharge his own mana.

Matt felt bad, but he kept his Concept pulled in so only Liz was affected, and turned it off anytime one of the bonds moved too close.

After half an hour, even the bonds had their mana restored, and the three of them moved to inspect the snake's lair.

Kenny directed them from Fen's shoulder, and soon they found a small cave with a massive wolf skull that radiated the power of lightning. It seemed to be Tier 14 itself.

Quill asked, Is that the item?

Seeing Bow and Arrows fur raise as they neared the object, he suspected it was, and he even had an idea of what it did.

Fen, to his surprise, didnt hide anything. Well, Ill be damned. Yes, this is what we were looking for. Kenny only knew it was good for Bow and Arrow, but I didnt think it would be this good.

Fen looked at them and explained, This is useful for upgrading a beast's bloodline, and as it's a wolf related item, it's perfect for Bow and Arrow. They can probably upgrade their bloodlines to have lightning powers if they refine this head.

Matt only knew the generalities of the beast's bloodlines, as every time he asked, he was told not to worry about things he had nothing to do with.

Even Mara, usually a fount of information, refused to say anything. Liz, keeping quiet about it as well, told Matt to keep his questions to himself, so he gave up on the topic. It irkd him, but he trusted that those around him had their own reasons.

Fen didnt explain more, but he offered, I know what our deal was, but this is massive to us. I'm willing to pay you both twenty points. I'd offer more, but that's more than half of what I have.

Torch said a short, Deals a deal.

Quill patted the man on his shoulder and turned to leave. We'll wait outside for you. I assume you want to make it to the Tier 13 rift to leave as well?

Fen gave the masked duo a smile and agreed. Give us half an hour to prepare to move this. I dont want to fuck anything up, and I cant fit it in my bag.

A little more than twenty minutes later, Garnet and Ruby had the giant skull hovering next to them on a moving wave of earth.

The maneuver seemed to take all of their concentration to maintain, leaving everyone else to protect them as they moved forward.

They ended up crossing two full areas before they found the Tier 13 rift, and the corresponding teleport formation.

After seeing Fen and his bonds through the formation and promising to meet up again, they turned to the rift.

They couldn't leave without going in, after all.

***

Tur'stal watched a replay of the giant [Fireball] array once again with all the other royals.

As the attack descended and Liz took control of it, Mara once again gloated, She takes after her mother, after all!

The bird poked her husband and started to wiggle an uncoordinated dance of mockery.

Tur'stal turned to Emmanuel, just like everyone else not yet aware of the children's ability.

Harper was the first to speak in their androgynous voice. Array or not, that level of power is far beyond most Tier 10s. Spill.

Rusty leaned forward and knocked on the table; it sounded like hammers striking an anvil.

I agree with the telekinetic. That isn't normal. Even his voice was like thunder.

The Emperor was unruffled at the united display of royals.

He took a long drink before placing his empty glass down and saying, I told you, theyre strong for a reason. His grin turned feral as he said, And that's with their arsenal being restricted.

Frederic smiled broadly. Then I must congratulate you, and all of us. He raised his glass in a toast.

Tur'stal joined him in the gesture, as did everyone else. This was a tradition as old as The Path of Ascension itself.

To another pair of children who will shoulder the burden of war for everyone else.

The royals all responded in unison, To those who do what we can no longer.

With that somber statement, they downed their drinks before Tur'stal turned to Mara and asked, What else can they do?

The phoenix was always the easiest to get to spill information, and this time was no different.

Oh, theyre actually swapping their normal roles. Matt is usually the melee fighter and Liz the mage.

Tur'stal sucked in a deep breath. After that showing, she had assumed their real identities were only faking their roles. But now, she needed to adjust her estimation of their power levels.

Liz as she well knew was only able to use fire skills if she had them in her outer spirit where they took a significant penalty to their efficiency. Most never fought with skills in their outer spirit for good reason but anyone not in the know would assume Liz was a true fire user.

Rusty laughed, I'm going to need to spar with the two of them! Feel them out myself. Good hybrids are hard to find!

Emmanuel finally cut in, The briefing for those two will be made available, but the largest secret will have to wait until after Ive talked to them, and I get their permission.

He looked down to the side for a moment before saying, Their little stunt has already shot up to the top of the news stations. Damn showoffs. Couldn't wait a single day before making a splash.

Rusty laughed harder than before. Good for them! The brighter their star, the better. It will give everyone else something to strive for, and set a fire under the weaker kids' asses.

Tur'stal nodded to her noble ally. She knew he put on a front of muscles over brains, but it was just that. An act. He was as smart as anyone else with the acumen to rise to the top of the political pile of snakes that were the noble circles.

As the Emperor handed them out paper information packets, Tur'stal started reading. It only took her seconds before she had memorized the information and destroyed the documents, but she was shocked at the level of power the children had shown.

With Luna as a trainer, she expected great things to come from those two in this tournament. The woman's track record was slim but extraordinary.

Still, it was the things not said in the packets of information that she really wanted to know. Entire years were redacted, even from them, which spoke of massive secrets. Even the most rudimentary thoughts on their Talents spoke volumes, because the boy's Talent clearly wasn't with talismans. It only made his display with the disposable items all the more impressive.

Tur'stal shivered in anticipation of meeting the children properly.

Then, everything would be made clear.

Watching the giant [Fireball] fall once again on the screen, she smiled and allocated another portion of her attention to the kids who were about to enter the rift.

She didnt miss the five other spiritual senses of her fellow royals also on them.

As cultivators higher than Tier 45, they had more than enough power to view what happened inside a Tier 13 rift instance. They all had a front row seat to the newest Ascenders next challenge.

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