The Path of Ascension

Chapter 185

Matt smiled as an armored troll charged at them the second they appeared on the third sub-level of the third floor.

Its armor glimmered with runes that he expected would resist normal spells, so he didnt bother to cast an attack. Instead, he just raced forward with Susanne and brought his new club down in an overhead swing.

The instant before his attack was going to land, he sent 1000 mana into the club and struggled to contain his grin as its weight increased a few million times. What was as light as a twig immediately became as heavy as a small building. And all of that weight came down on the troll's shoulder and chest.

The monster exploded.

Bits of flesh and metal went flying as the club refused to be stopped by something as flimsy as armor.

As his strike hit the ground, an explosion of dirt spread out.

It was an impressive attack that would have killed any monster except a troll.

Even with essentially only one leg left intact, the monster still wasn't dead, and the body parts all wriggled as they tried to reform.

A burst of fire from [Flamethrower] was an easy solution to that problem. The second the flame hit the now unarmored monster's flesh, it shriveled and died, providing a burst of Genesis Energy as confirmation.

Walking out of the blackened indentation that his club had left in the ground, Matt picked up the skill shard and inspected it.

[Flaming Strike] was a common Tier 14 skill, but a useful one. It encased the users weapon in flame and added a degree of elemental damage to any strike. It could also explode with fire if the caster chose. Doing so would make them recast the spell, but it still made for a strong skill.

It wasnt a bad skill by any means, but it ultimately didnt do anything unique or especially useful for Matt. He already had enough backup skills, and it wasnt worth using one of his precious few remaining inner skill slots on.

[Flaming Strike] would be better for one of the others to absorb if he was just going to chuck it into the outer area of his spirit.

Picking it up, he was going to toss it to one of them when Liz pointed off the side.

The seeker compass was pointing towards the direction she indicated,glowing brightly enough that they all knew some treasure was close at hand.

That surprised Matt. Normally, they needed to walk around for the compass to do more than flicker when they first landed on a new floor. This time, Minkalla seemed to place them within feet of something valuable.

They started walking but the compass started to flicker and jump around as it pointed up, then to the left and right.

Matt scanned the area, but didnt see anything out of the ordinary in the forest they had been dropped in.

Branches swayed in the light wind, sending an odd leaf or two falling from the tree limbs. The fake sky was even clear from what Matt could see of it.

Even after spreading his spiritual sense to its limit, he couldn't see anything out of the ordinary with his own senses, or his AI. He even had a reference from the compass, but still couldn't find what the item was pointing towards.

Aster yipped, There it is! By that branch! Look at the winged seed pod floating around the branch. It's not falling down!

Matt looked, and after Aster highlighted the seed in question, he saw what she meant.

A seemingly ordinary winged seed floated in the air instead of spinning to the ground as it should naturally do.

A Talaria Seed.

The natural treasure was quite rare on its own, and was infamously tricky to catch, adding an additional layer of complexity for anyone who found one. Furthermore, they hid in plain sight, masking their essence from any casual observers, save for the tell-tale fact that they never touched the ground. The seeds would endlessly spin around on wind currents instead. Aster jumped off the ground and flew with her Concept, but even that slight movement sent the Talaria Seed fluttering off in a random direction.

Liz cried, Surround it! As she put words to action, running to try and get in front of the escaping natural treasure.

Matt broke off and went to the side as Susanne mirrored him.

He didnt even bother trying to use [Air Manipulation]. Talaria Seeds were one with the wind, and couldnt be so easily contained.

With the four of them, they were able to slowly herd the Talaria Seed into a small area where it was stable and didnt flitter away. Aster then grew a wall of ice around it, shrinking the area until it closed around the tiny wings that were the seed.

Even fully encased in ice, the Talaria Seed still vibrated, trying to flutter free.

They all looked at it and then back to each other.

It was a good item for all of them.

Talaria Seeds, when absorbed, allowed their consumer to call upon the winds to empower their movement. Whether through a swift breeze pushing them faster as they ran, or a cushion of air to soften a high fall. Even the strike of a weapon could be pushed along with the winds from the seed enhancing stamina cultivation. There were skills that had similar effects- [Air Manipulation] itself being one of the most obvious- but Talaria Seeds were invaluable for the fact that they required no magic to use.

Ultimately, all four of them could use it, but it wasnt equal gains for all of them. Matt hardly needed a treasure that helped offset mana costs, not when he could replicate everything the seed could do with [Air Manipulation]. Aster was arguably the most compatible, as her Winter bloodline would make its effects all the more potent. Liz would get the most versatility from it, as she was almost fully cut off from air and wind-type skills. Susanne, meanwhile, was the one of them who most would benefit from the complete lack of mana costs associated with the ability.

Matt shook his head. It would be nice, but really, I dont need it.

The three girls all looked at each other. Susanne wasnt a permanent member of the team, after all, which made things more complicated. No matter what happened, one of their groups would be deprived of a very valuable treasure.

There was a protocol for what would happen if they all wanted the same item, and in the worst-case scenario. Their AIs could calculate who had already gotten the most value from treasures and drops so far, who had contributed the most, and thus who was most deserving of the latest find. But, they preferred to not rely on that if at all possible, as it tended to breed resentment no matter how ostensibly fair it was.

Liz, unsurprisingly, backed out next. Same. Besides, I think Ill have my hands full with the blood for the next little while. It would be nice to get a bit more mobility, but hey, theres lots more floors to go, and if we end up with Floating Islands, itll be more than a bit redundant for me.

Aster and Susanne stared at each other for a little while, not to intimidate the other, but mostly just deep in thought. Just as Matt was about to speak up, Aster broke the silence with a yip, You really want it?

Susanne nodded. The extra speed will be quite useful in many situations, and Im a warrior. I dont have many chances to expand my bag of tricks, and Im not using my stamina for that much, really. Meanwhile my Willpower and mana are both in relatively short supply.

With a bit of a whine, Aster rolled the seed over to the other Pather. Yeah and I suppose you wont always have Matt around to help you refill on mana. If we find another one though, I want it!

Susanne chuckled as she reached out to grab the ice-encased seed before it managed to somehow escape, blinking it away to her storage ring. I can accept that.

That ended the discussion, and Matt suggested they find somewhere to set up camp and work on identifying the spoils of the day. That was met with fairly unanimous agreement, and they set off.

They hadnt gone very far before they stopped. Another troll was approaching, and they all raced towards the new threat.

This troll, like the first one they found, was wearing armor that blocked all spells from approaching it.

Or at least, most of them. Aster's ice still slammed on the armor, but she was unable to control it within a foot of the armor. Lizs blood suffered a worse fate as, without her control, the blood was little more than water.

That didnt stop Susanne and Matt from moving into melee range and quickly ending the troll's life.

That brief distraction only highlighted the fact they were all tired and needed a break, so the four of them decided to find a place to rest and relax where they were not out in the open.

It took them a few minutes of searching, but the forest they were in was large and not flat, which gave them some room to create a hollow out of a hill and put their house in a concealed location.

Susanne dropped onto a chair to start working on the Talaria seed, Aster hopped up into her lap to take a nap, and with a guilty glance at the ever-larger pile of unidentified skill shards in his spatial ring, Matt decided he wanted to spend more time with Liz. She was working on her own vial of blood, and helping her sounded much more appealing than identifying all of the skills from the previous floor and a half that hadnt been worked on yet.

It was a little cramped in their workshops with two of them, but they had learned how to not get in each other's way long ago.

Can you hand me the vial of esethic concentrate?

The what?

The orange potion with the eyedropper in it. It's clearly labeled.

Matt passed the vial over, What is it?

Liz never brought her eyes away from the drop of blood she had extracted from the vial. Natural treasures and their ilk are usually identifiable because of their unique properties. Take Talaria Seeds for an example. They float around, never touching the ground and are hard to catch. That's fairly obvious, but they don't feel any different than a normal item, which makes them hard to find, but not identify. Then look at my Blood Iron. It generally looks like iron, but it's full of essence. That makes it easy to find, but it's hard to identify what the iron is. This vial is the best, or rather worst combination of both.

She paused as she brought a black light over the liquid and watched for a long minute, but eventually spoke back up when she removed the light.

This was a reward from a ruin distortion, so I know it's not dangerous. I just don't know what it does. My instincts, gut, and Talent tell me it's a natural treasure, but Ive looked up any and all treasures with blood properties, and nothing matches this item's description. My testing is to determine whether or not it's a natural treasure. Esethic concentrate is, to be a bit reductionist, concentrated deep sea fish oils that become fluorescent when mixed with a compatible essence.

She moved the black light over the drop of blood she had mixed with the orange liquid and showed Matt.

See, nothing happens. That means the blood absorbed all the natural properties of the fish oil. That tells me that the blood can grow in some way.

Liz spun and started to dig through her spatially expanded draws and continued. So, I know the blood isnt dangerous because of where we got it. And I know the blood will grow with me if I absorb it.

Pulling what looked like a cattle prod out of the draw she stood up.

I also might have influenced this reward with the test we did on the last floor.

Matt cocked an eyebrow at that statement. That's not really possible from what we know of how Minkalla works. It can make things harder, but there havent been any reports of Minkalla adjusting rewards to help people like that.

That was true. Or mostly true.

Minkalla would adjust rewards for the individual, but it always entailed things like giving Susanne a sword that matched the one she used, or giving Aster items she could wear with her beast form.

They had no reports of the place creating a new natural treasure as a reward based on the Genesis Cultivation test.

Liz nodded as she sent a crack of electricity through the blood and read the results. I would normally agree with you but She paused to shoot Matt a look, But both of my first two tests failed, while the third was a success.

Matt narrowed his eyes as he thought. They had planned the test that they would do if they got that floor. Minkalla wasn't kind enough to ever give out a pure advantage, and would only allow the testee the memories of what they had tested and what had succeeded. The planet stripped them of any of the memories of the actual process, leaving them with only the end result. Still, it was useful with some planning and creativity. If they knew what they wanted to test and stuck to that, they would know if any of the proceeding tests were failures.

Except, Liz only had two tests she had planned for.

Which meant

Liz interrupted him. Yes, I tried to make a mana concentration potion for you, but got nowhere on that. She held up a hand to forestall any of his complaints. I know we agreed that I wouldn't, but I had to at least try. But it didnt work

Matt interrupted her by kissing the top of her head. Not exactly a romantic place, but she was wearing her lab equipment and was covered in unknown chemicals.

I get it. And thank you.

He let it drop at that.

She was worried for him, and he knew that he would be doing everything he could if their roles were reversed.

He could tell her to pursue her own advantages during these challenges until he went blue in the face, but hed be a hypocrite if he expected her not to worry about him.

Liz smiled at him. Well, it didnt work. And my original test about making blood alchemy into a potion creation without essence didnt work either. But I had an idea in the process of that testing.

She shrugged. I don't remember what the idea exactly was, but my submitted project was about making my blood something greater.

Matts eyebrows nearly hit his hairline as he was surprised at the very concept.

Blood was blood. How could it be something greater without losing what made it blood?

I don't remember how I did it, obviously, but I know my final product had my blood stronger, better, faster. Greater. I was like that vampire boss, but a dozen times stronger. If I had my blood from the test, I could have ripped the blood out of his body or spread myself out in the blood he was trying to pull in, and infect him from the inside. I would have converted the blood he was trying to use into something more. Something incompatible with him, but perfect for myself.

Matt thought over the possibilities, but couldn't resist a quip. So blood 2.0? Will we need to upgrade your wetware every few years to the newest version?

Liz hip-checked him, laughing. Something like that, yes. My Talent makes me blood, or rather it makes my blood more of me. I need to look into this after we leave, but I need to make me better, and the easiest way is to make my blood better. My blood alchemy is something of a good start, but imagine if I could make that permanent. Unicorn blood washes away poison and disease affinity mana, and dragon blood has a dozen different uses without even processing it. Imagine if I could do something like that for my own blood.

Lizs eyes began to sparkle the way they always did whenever she started dreaming big, and Matt chuckled, giving her another kiss on the forehead. It was an interesting idea, and he was already thinking about ways to assist her through enchantments and aperology.

He was in his own thoughts when Liz asked, What about your tests? How did they go?

Matt sighed. They succeeded.

Liz shot him a glare. Then why the sigh? I was getting worried.

Suppressing a smirk, he laughed, It's a good thing, but like you, I know I created a pure aura rift, but I have no idea how I did it. My gut tells me it wasnt easy, though.

Liz rolled her eyes and handed him a beaker. Well while you mope away in success, wash this.

I know it succeeded, sure, but this won't be an easy step to take. If my gut is right, I won't be able to successfully test this for decades, or more likely, centuries. Matt handed her back the clean and dry beaker as he finished. At best, I can give it to Erwin, and with the knowledge it's possible, he might be able to figure it out on his own. At worst, Ill just be like the millions of others who know something is possible because of Genesis Cultivations test, but never be able to figure out how I accomplished it.

Liz pulled off her gloves and threw them into the trash. Nothing we can do about that except move forward and progress. Try our best.

Matt accepted her peck on the cheek with a smile as he changed the topic. Did you figure out what that does?

Liz laughed as she picked up the vial and swirled the blood around like a fine wine. Not really. I can only tell that it's a natural treasure of some kind. It passed all the tests I can perform to confirm that. But as for what it does: I don't have a clue.

They exited the alchemy room to see Aster still curled up on Susannes lap.

Matt looked at his bond, but she was engrossed in watching the screen, and only half noticed the exit.

Susanne, on the other hand, still had the Talaria Seed floating over her hand.

Matt, seeing that, and judging how long it would take her to absorb the natural treasure, started cooking a nice steak that they had cut out of a bull monster a few floors ago. Susanne had more of a dessert tooth than him or Liz, but enjoyed more hearty fare for proper meals.

And he was never one to say no to a steak.

Neither was Aster, who upon smelling the meat cooking, came over and inspected the dish.

The three of them chatted as he cooked, and just as he timed it, Susanne came out of her trance just as the steaks were resting on his cutting board, and the veggies he was frying in the fat were just finished.

Dinner was fun, and everyone was in a good mood with the rewards and their progress.

They had only been on the third floor for a week and two days, and had already pushed to the third sub-level, making up more than enough ground to reclaim all the time they had lost while building a raft and fighting their way through the sunken island.

After dinner, they set up a watch and got a good sleep before moving on.

Before they stepped off, Liz decided to absorb the vial of blood.

Unlike with Susanne, who had to slowly absorb the Talaria Seed, Liz simply cut her bicep and absorbed the blood.

They were about to leave after Liz said she didnt notice anything wrong or changing, when she dropped to the floor of their living room as if she was a puppet with her strings cut.

Matt instantly panicked, but Liz sent a message through her AI. Lost control of my body, but I'm ok. The vial of blood is fighting with my body and Blood Iron. Things are changing, but its not dangerous.

That didnt help his nerves at all as she started to shake.

Matt held her head off the ground, but he was horrified as he watched Liz start to bleed.

Dark blood came out of her pores and smelled reminiscent of when he ate the root of perfection, but worse.

Throw me in the shower! I don't want to have to clean this out of the carpet. Liz groused, and it was the first thing that made Matt feel better.

If she had enough awareness to worry about the floor, she was fine. Spell to clean blood or not, it was still their carpet.

Still, it took himself and Susanne to get her to the shower and strip her of her armor with her convulsing body fighting them.

Curled up in the cramped space under an endless stream of warm water, they watched as she bled out of her pores.

It was a slow oozing bleed that took almost an hour to stop, but when it did, Liz regained control over her body.

Standing up on wobbly legs, she said, Well, it felt like ants were inside me and crawling around. Zero out of ten, do not recommend.

Shuddering, she turned off the water and stepped out before pausing to say, Easier to clean up here, to be honest. She turned to Matt and expected a hand. Blade, please.

Matt knew what she was going to test, but didnt like it. Still, he didn't stop her. Going into battle without knowing what your powers did was stupid.

Liz took the blade and lightly cut her forearm. She barely broke the skin, but they watched as the blood bubbled out of the wound and started to flow like normal. That was, until it stopped and started to reverse its track. As it reached the incision, the blood slipped back into Lizs body and the wound slowly closed over a minute.

Susanne was the first to speak. Did you happen to save some of that blood? I'd love the ability to heal like a vampire.

Aster pretended to cower around Matt and asked, Are you craving blood? Fox blood? Oh no!

Her tail gave the game away, and Liz grabbed the fox and gently bit her scruff before letting her run away.

I don't feel different, but my body feels stronger to a degree. Like Im more solid.

Matt squeezed her arm but didnt notice any new or increased resistance to his touch.

After a few more tests, Liz sighed. I need to test if my body will reattach a limb like the vampire.

Matt kept his mouth shut, but got a healing spell ready in case the vial of blood wasnt as good as the vampire's healing factor had been.

Liz cut off the tip of her ring finger without a wince, and they all watched as she bled.

It took longer than the other test she had done, but the bit of finger she lost didnt reattach on its own. In fact, it didnt reattach at all, but instead slowly regrew over the course of an hour.

What Matt found interesting was that it actually converted Lizs blood into the flesh. It wasnt terribly efficient, but it was quite fascinating watching her blood clot at the end of her finger, fade into a fresh wound, and then have that wound scab over and regrow into flesh. The process repeated over and over until the injury was entirely gone. It was even more efficient when looking at just healing cooldowns. It was still considered magical healing, and not true metabolic healing, so it still had some amount of cooldown, but it was half what a comparable healing spell would have been.

Furthermore, it was a natural treasure that could grow, and that meant it would only become stronger as Liz advanced. It might even improve if they gave it new items to feed off of, like her Blood Iron. They wouldnt know until they were able to test things further.

The next few days were spent on something of a ruin rush as Susanne adapted to her new Talaria Seed. Liz also got a bit more practice with her wound healing than Matt would have liked, but that was just part of the territory, and a result of her pushing to fill the role of tank.

The four of them had been moving from ruin to ruin, killing everything they encountered until their cultivation had returned to its former peak of Tier 11 prowess.

They even encountered a challenge room. The pillar of crystal had been hidden in the center of a swamp, but the challenge was a surprising one.

I would put every mana stone I have on the fact it is an escort mission, Matt said.

Liz sighed and agreed after feeling the intent that the pillar gave off for herself.

Susanne went up and pressed her hand to the pillar and concurred. That's the idea I get from it as well. Do we want to do this, though?

Aster shrugged. This is a type that is always sped up, right? Why not take it?

Matt didnt disagree, but these tests were always slogs.

Still, they needed all the Genesis Energy they could get, and this had a large initial cost.

If they beat the challenge, theyd be really close to having enough for the full theme reward, and from there, all theyd need to do was fight one more boss and theyd be ready to move on. In fact, they had even found two ruins with bosses, but had avoided fighting them until they had enough Genesis Energy.

Matt slowly said, Taking this would mean leaving earlier. But this is going to suck.

Liz agreed and pressed her hand on the pillar. It's a smart play. It's just going to take forever.

After they all pressed their hands to the pillar and sent in a stream of Genesis Energy, they felt the world shift and appeared standing next to a caravan.

A man shouted at them before they could even get their bearings. Are you guys the ones the adventurers' guild sent over? Good. Hurry up and get on a horse. We need your team to guard the left flank.

Matt was still dizzy from the transition, but Susanne must have felt better as she was able to ask. Where are we going again, and how long is the trip?

The man on horseback spat to the side. Did you not even read the contract in the hall? I know the guild master wouldn't allow them not to post it.

Matt, who had gotten his bearings to a degree, gave the best and most classic excuse he could with the information he had gleaned from the man's words. We got a little too drunk and had an he paused for theatrics. Altercation in the pub last night, and this is how we're paying off said damages.

That earned him a chuckle from the man on horseback. Repentance through pain. Yeah, Ive been in your shoes before. Even learned to love it. So will you after this trip. We're going all the way to Alefast. It's a new city, and we're bringing a newly commissioned ward stone to them. We have a six-month journey, if nothing has changed in the landscape. The first day or three of travel should be uneventful, as were under the wards of our city, so take this time to sober up. Dinner is an hour after we stop for the evening. Dont let us get eaten, or get eaten yourselves.

Matt looked at the horse and blinked.

He had no idea how to ride one of them, and a quick check showed that all of his normal armor and gear were gone. It was all replaced by standard and low-quality gear. The only advantage he had was that his cultivation was back at its peak of Tier 11, and all his skills seemed to work.

He already knew he would have to enchant their armor and weapons tonight, or they would be screwed in the first attack.

The time conversion for the challenge room wasn't bad, but it would still suck for them. Each month they spent in the challenge, the outside world would progress an hour. That was why these challenges were considered worth doing, but Matt didnt look forward to a subjective six months of time spent slowly escorting a caravan of people to a faraway place.

The normal rewards for these challenge rooms were usually good, with a general completion floor. As long as they got the item to the endpoint, it didnt matter if they carried it on their own and were the only survivors. But the more people they got to the finish line out of the people with them, the more Genesis Energy they would get as a reward.

If the rewards were normal, and they got everyone to the city Alefast, they could expect ten times the Genesis Energy they gave to the pillar.

First, Matt just needed to learn to ride a horse.

How hard could that be?

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