The Path of Ascension

Chapter 281

Allie tapped her foot impatiently.

She still didnt entirely get what had happened to take out both Zack and Quill at the same time, but theyd been out for a couple hours now. She knew that theyd both be fine, as the moment the battlefield had been engulfed in the massive not-quite explosion, shed brought both of the men to Kudzu, where theyd been convalescing since.

She had been able to bond with Lizzie a bit over their surprise that both of their partners had been knocked out by, of all things, mana backlash. That just didnt happen, especially not to Zack. Shed steadfastly refused to let Lizzie explain anything more about Quills build and just why her partner trying to take control of the other Ascenders spell had flattened both of them.

That would come soon enough, during their breakdown, and the anticipation made the reveal all the sweeter.

Aster was loads of fun though. The fox-girl had been patched up in no time flat by the onsite healers, and theyd spent a good amount of time laughing about their respective movies after she removed the cold still lingering in Allie's bones. But that conversation had died away when Quill woke up, and Allie was once again left alone with her thoughts.

That was always the worst.

Maybe she should go get scones? There was one bakery on Celerai run by an illusionist, and he could make anything in his store look like just about anything. She could get Zack erberry scones disguised as banana nut. Or maybe the other way around? Or maybe she could get a scone that looked like a vase of flowers. It was only one teleport away from her waypoint on the planet, and while the baker was only Tier 22, she could place her order then come back a few minutes later to pick it up.

Hmmm.

Zack twitched, and that immediately became the priority. His spirit was stirring as well, and Allie could practically tap out the tune on her knee as, like clockwork, Zack activated each of his internal buffs, scanned his AI, and only then opened his eyes and looked around.

Allie shrugged, Some big explosion took you and Quill out. Lizzie and I kept going at it for a bit after that, but that elemental form is really hard to stab and she just kept making clones. She couldnt really hit me either, so we eventually decided to call it a draw and came over to wait for you guys to wake up. Quills been awake for a bit now, fucker is tough as two week old shit, and theyre running through Talent intros with the rest of the Team. Theyre waiting for us at HQ, but I made them promise to not reveal their Talents until we rejoin them. So get moving, you lug.

Zack swung himself out of the bed, and a Kudzu healer came by to give him a quick check-over. It only took a couple moments before her friend was given the all-clear, and as soon as that was delivered, she wrapped them both in her Talent and zapped them back to the meeting room.

She dropped them both in their respective chairs, only slightly sad that no other teleporters were around to see how awesome she was. Teleporting someone such that they landed in a sitting position was hard, you had to get all the angles just right so that their bodies would naturally adjust to the new position without even realizing that they had adjusted.

It was generally considered impossible, but that was just half the fun of being an Ascender. Someday, someone with the experience to appreciate how casually she could do her stuff would see her and be flabbergasted, but given the lack of reaction from Lizzie, Aster, and Quill, it wasnt today.

Instead they were busy talking to Eric and Dena about nothing in particular, it sounded like. She could appreciate just how weird it was for them, to be at the same Tier and on the same Team as their sponsor. Shed had a similar experience, when she met her sponsor for the first time after being a higher Tier than him.

Darrow cleared his throat, and the conversation died away. Ascender Light, good to see youve recovered. Have you all sated your curiosity from smacking one another around?

I am somewhat concerned about what eliminated us both from the fight. I should have dispelled all standing spells, then took control of your working. What did you do to prevent both of those? I clearly have some fairly obvious weakness for you to have exploited them so trivially.

Quill snorted softly, It wasnt anything I did, you just lost control of the mana.

Zack narrowed his eyes, Id say its preposterous, but go on.

Allie almost started beating the table to encourage another fight but refrained. Quill had challenged Zacks ability as a mage which was one of the few things her partner was unwaveringly sure of his skills in.

Whats the biggest spell youve ever used, or controlled?

I redirected an attack from a flagships main mana cannon once. Three million, five hundred and seventy nine thousand, four hundred fifty two point six eight points of mana, including my own usurpation.

Morgan let out a low whistle. The sniper had been on the mission in question, Allie remembered, but probably hadnt realized just how much mana had been involved. Three million mana would be half of a Tier 31 magess entire mana pool, implying that Zack could deflect even powerful attacks from soldiers six tiers above him, at least in raw mana, if some mage was foolish enough to throw around half their mana pool in a single spell.

Lizzie and Aster looked away, hiding their obvious amusement poorly.

Quill just smiled, Yeah. That would do it. You havent had to deal with spontaneous aspect-cascades, have you?

Zack frowned, No. In fact I do not know what that is.

Aila leaned forward, the mechanics mouth open slightly. Im sorry, what?

Spontaneous aspect-cascades. When dealing with enough mana, you can have issues where the entire spell wont be able to aspect itself properly, and certainly wont respond properly to external commands. That can result in primed mana picking up tiny context cues from its surroundings incorrectly and developing a cascading failure where portions of the spell, as the name implies, spontaneously pick up unexpected aspects, tearing the spell apart. If its bad enough, itll even travel back to the power source and blow it up. Normally I can handle it, but whatever you did to my spell made it way, way more sensitive than usual and I couldnt get it back under control before, well... he mimed an explosion with his hands. Lights out.

Zacks frown deepened, but Aila cut him off before he could speak, No, no, no, no stop. Let me get this right, not only do you know what SAC even is, did you just say that you have to deal with it when casting? How the hell did you use enough mana for it to even start appearing? How much mana was that?

Thirty, Quill began, teasing the word out slowly. He was clearly enjoying it, the jerk. Allie was the only one allowed to be annoying.

Million, he finished, and Zacks face went blank. It was a face she was very familiar with, namely the one he defaulted to whenever panic would be counterproductive, AKA every time anything unexpected happened.

Aila let out a low whistle, Joys eyebrows climbed off her face, Sebastians jaw literally dropped, and even Darrows third eye blinked open for a second as it flicked around Quill. Her own expression was likely a mirror to theirs, that was an impressive mana pool. No wonder he was an Ascender, to be able to bust out that kind of mana at the end of what was already a fairly lengthy duel was impressive.

Per second.

The words hung in the air for a moment. For a moment, Allie was confused as to who had spoken, then it dawned on her that it was still Quills voice, genuinely finishing his answer this time.

Thirty million mana per second.

That was

Honestly, why not. He was an Ascender, why wouldnt he be able to channel more mana in a single second than a Tier 35 mage would have in their entire mana pool? Why not just make that his actual mana regeneration while they were at it? Why wouldnt an Ascender be able to regenerate thirty million mana each second? She could teleport across the Realm whenever she pleased, why wouldnt her peers be able to generate a hundred and fifty times her entire mana pool with every passing second?

There. Shed accepted it.

It certainly put her in a better position than Zack, who was clearly stuck in some form of boot-loop, blinking every couple of seconds in synch with a head twitch, his mouth slightly ajar. Ailas whistle had turned into a strained cough, Morgan had let her hands fall to the table and was staring at Quill with a haunted look, and Sebastian was literally wrestling with his surprise. He had a death-grip on a copper-colored rope of energy between two of a dozen or so lidless eyes, and was slowly dragging the demon back inside his spirit. Even poor Codexs pages were ruffling as it tried to process that information.

Youre not lying, Zack finally spoke, his voice barely audible.

Well. I did round off a bit. At the time, I was directing 28,128,211 mana per second towards [Air Manipulation] when you tried to gain control of it. It was a bit lower than that beforehand. Anyway, this is a perfect time to get back to the Talent talk. And yeah, Ill send mine over. Easiest way to believe it. Just keep in mind, its an actual imperial secret so please dont talk about it too much outside of here.

Ascender, were all familiar with how to keep secrets, Morgan reassured him, Its why were here.

Yeah, well

Quill flicked a finger at them, and Allie read the message she had been sent.

A simple verified AI Talent readout. One which Allie read thrice, digging into the sub-effects to ensure she properly understood what it did and how it did it.

Tier 1: Diminishing returns on mana regeneration.

Tier 3: Maximum mana set to 41,943,040.

Tier 25: Crystallize mana.

That was a lot of mana all right. A portion of her was incredulous that her half-hearted guess about how his Talent worked was actually right, and that forty million mana was his throughput per second, but hey, she could deal.

Now Zack, on the other hand

She cast a glance over at her friend. While most of the table was mostly nodding along in varying levels of surprise, theyd mostly recovered. Sebastian had even successfully recaptured his shock and was keeping a very level expression, presumably to reestablish control over his inner demons. But Zack had been thrown back into his shock-analysis loop. It made her think of a faulty AI eternally trying to start up, only to crash again moments later.

When he wasnt out of his fugue thirty seconds later, she looked to Liz, reached out and grabbed Aster, pulling her chair to her side. You broke my mage, so Im taking yours. Returns or exchanges are only allowed on wednesdays at 3 pm.

The fox laughed. It never gets old seeing people's reactions to Matts Talents.

Allie couldnt help but agree, even if most of the table had recollected themselves. The one exception, other than Zack himself, was Aila. Her eyes were quite dilated as she stared into the distance, a manic smirk plastered on her face as she steepled her fingers.

Oh yeah, that reminded her of something The Boss had said

Hey Darrow, the Emp said wed have more funding in a few decades last time I asked for an invincible dagger. Do you think this is what he meant?

Darrow nodded and didnt even reprimand her for not using his rank. I would assume so. Some of King Rustys comments make more sense with the benefit of hindsight and this revelation.

Allie nodded but was distracted as Zack finally recovered.

***

Matt would be lying if he said he wasnt smug at the reactions of his Talents revelation.

Shadow seemed perpetually unimpressed, and hadnt seemed bothered by or hadnt understood the implications of his Talent.

Her partner though

Lights reactions had been everything he had ever wanted.

And frankly, it served the man right.

Who tried to take control over a spell with that much mana in it? And a channel spell at that. It was madness and foolishness wrapped into one.

Okay, maybe he was a little bitter at having to deal with spell backlash again. Previously, even when Luna had seized control of his spells to give him practice with the sensation, hed managed to work his way up to just barely being disrupted at all. Of course, fresh off a Tier-up and corresponding mana doubling, his control was just barely enough to keep his spells together. Then Light had gone and done whatever it was and made the mana incredibly hair-twitchy.

Spontaneous aspect-cascades, at minimum, didnt start appearing until the million-mana mark, and even then it was usually only when crafting. Directly-cast spells had a much higher bar, with most mages literally never having to deal with them. Concentration, aspected mana pools, control, domains, even simple spiritual presence all helped keep mana under control, and it was only when majorly overreaching that it really became an issue. Normally, it wasnt even an issue for him. Just one of a dozen phenomena he had to keep in mind when unleashing his full power. But whatever Light had done threw everything into chaos. There had been some mana types in the end explosion Matt didnt even recognize, and that had been before he blacked out from the backlash.

Well, he could at least enjoy his petty enjoyment of Lights frustrations. Matt didnt know the man well, but from all reports, he was cold and closed off, and showed little emotion in the few interviews he had done post-unmasking, so he interpreted the small gestures as the man trying to come up with words to express his bewilderment.

However, his first words were not what Matt had expected.

That explains why you are so wasteful with mana.

Thankfully, Lights next words were far more flattering. Ah, no, this makes sense. Your talismans, thats a sensible way to utilize yet disguise your mana creation. No wonder you were able to create a rune so quickly, that much mana would certainly aid in experimentation. He paused, head cocked like a monster who thought it had heard something, No, unless there was something more. You will have to tell me more about how you did that at some point. But that level of increased mana to spend would be exceedingly useful for all sorts of research. Would you be interested in providing some assistance to a project Ive been a part of? Weve been looking into higher-level mana types.

Now that sounded interesting, very few people dabbled in higher Level mana types.

Matt leaned forward, his elbows on the table. Oh? I wont claim to be an expert in mana theory or anything, but I did some aperology back when I was Tier 6, and that necessitated some study into the matter. But I havent really had time to work on it for the past century.

Light perked up even further, if that was possible. Excellent. Ive been working with Group Scry these past centuries, and weve been working to develop a Level 3 mana aspect built around the concept of purest speed. I rather expect a nigh-infinite mana budget would assist.

Matt nodded, Based around speed? I presume youve got light as a fairly core affinity already then?

Light shook his head. Illusion has proven to be a more stable base.

Oh really? I wouldnt have guessed that. Hm. Well, could I get some of your test files? I wont say that its perfect at this level, but I could run some sims on my [AI], see if theres anything obvious thats been missed. It's great at processing and simulating things like this.

Light nodded. That could be useful. My own Talent, which I dont believe youve been informed of? It makes prototyping somewhat easier, but far from trivial, so Id be very interested in what an outside source such as yourself has to say about our results.

Matt shook his head. While theyd been filled in on most of the groups Talents, at least in the broad sense, nobody was willing to share Light and Shadows Talents while they werent around. Really, theyd been surprisingly hesitant to share their own Talents. Only Eric, Dena, and Darrow had sent out their full Talent readouts, while the others just described broadly what theirs did.

It was a bit of an odd situation to be in, because he remembered being in their position, decades ago. As a kid, hed always been told to never share his Talent information with anyone, and that it was the ultimate sign of trust.

Now, he couldnt quite remember why he had felt that way. Weirdly, having a Talent so powerful it actually needed to be hidden had just worn away at his hesitancy to share it. It was probably around when hed talked to the Royals about it. In any case, it left him in the minority of people, willing to share his detailed Talent information with a group of basically-strangers. Bolt, or rather Morgan, had been quite apologetic about it, saying that she at least would probably be willing to share once theyd been on a few missions together, and they knew one another more personally.

So, he was surprised when a message from Light popped up on his AI.

Tier 1: Skills cast become Arcane aspected.

Tier 3: Arcane skills may be changed to any constituent aspect. Precision increases with Tier and practice.

Tier 25: Change the aspect of spells you control at any time.

Well, that explains your interest in niche aspects, I suppose, Matt mused. Most people tended to focus on a single, fairly basic element, or a family thereof, but Light could freely change the element of any spell he cast, literally at-will, as arcane mana was composed of every mana aspect aside from void, so far as anyone could tell. With that kind of flexibility, it only made sense to make a projectile be as fast as possible, or as solid as possible, or perfectly countering the weaknesses of a given form of defense. Aster will probably want to talk to you at some point, how familiar are you with aurora magic?

Aster perked up, but Light gave a curt shake of his head. I do not have much experience with level four mana types. While I am capable of utilizing many of them, aurora is not one which I have properly mastered.

And by that, Shadow butt in on the conversation, He means hes cast with it, figured out at least a half-dozen spells its compatible with, but hasnt figured out a unique niche for it yet.

I would not misrepresent my capabilities. It is better to be more capable than anticipated than to fall short when the situation is required.

Yeah yeah, Shadow rolled her eyes, turning such that she was lying down on her chair while still sitting up straight, But Zacks baseline is higher than most specialists. Actually, Lizzie! Youre good at fiery stuff yeah? You two should compare notes at some point. You didnt use much in the fight though, what was up with that?

I only really use fire magic as Torch, Liz explained, Its really not a good match.

Really? Even with the whole phoenix thing?

My turn to share Talents, I suppose. I spent eight Tiers basically barred from fire. Liz grumped.

Lights eyes widened as he processed the AI message. You were just using Outer Spirit skills with fire? How?

I was impressed before, Morgan pitched in, Im more impressed now. Ive got a couple of utility spells in my Outer Spirit that Ill use from time to time, but Ive found that its straight up more effective to move them to my Inner or Core slots, make a stockpile, and move it back than it is to just start from Outer.

How does that work, exactly? Matt asked. The woman was a support sniper capable of manifesting her skills in the form of physical objects that persisted essentially until used, which could even be modified after the fact or used in crafting. But theyd start to degrade if separated from her for a long time. She had an utterly enormous stockpile of items made from those pre-cast skills, but Matt still didnt understand all the details.

Realizing what he had done, Matt gestured to his wife to return the floor to her. Oh, sorry Liz. Didnt mean to cut you off.

Its fine. Anyway, the answer is lots and lots of practice, for the most part, she shrugged. Luna gave me a hardcore lesson in fire magic, its base weaknesses, and how best to steal control of spells. My tricks for stealing control without being noticed was a necessity, because at the time, I just wasnt strong enough to fight back if someone noticed my attempts at spellstealing. It was really well-optimized for the Path tournament, where power typically wins out over control, and pretty much everyone is self-taught. After that, I picked up a staff that can do elemental conversions to fire, and used that in my future appearances. Plus, Matt feeds me loads of mana and fire to fill the gap.

The spear, Aila pitched in after realizing. Matt wasnt surprised that Origami, the closest thing to a crafting Ascender there was, figured it out, but it was still impressive. Thats why the spearhead isnt bound to you like the shaft is.

You can tell that? Lizs eyebrows nearly reached her hairline as she turned her attention to Aila.

Well, the easiest tell is the fact its a higher Tier than the rest of it. But yes. I could modify the enchantment on the spearhead, but not the shaft itself. Its enchantments are in the Summit style, which is most commonly used with add-ons when you dont want to change any of the existing enchanting-work, but you dont care about the modularity.

Shadow cupped her hands around her mouth and mock yelled, Nerd!

Aila shot the Ascender a glare, Oh really. Do you want this nerd to stop working on your flying pool table?

-Ssss are great! Just like you are, Aila. Youre wonderful and make such wonderful creations, never stop being so nerdy! Shadow hastily added.

Flying pool table? Aster asked from where she was still sitting next to Shadow.

It was a thing Allie asked for a while back. Basically, its an actual pool table, like billiards, but it can deploy into a swimming pool. Its been on the back burner because Ive had a lot of projects come through lately, and at least it sounds like Allie actually still wants it. And yes, it can fly.

How big of a pool are we talking? Aster's ears twitched in a way that told Matt he would be guilted into working on that project when he got free time.

Well, its not going to be that big, but its going to be maybe a few hundred feet wide? Honestly, I have to work on it in pool table mode because my workshop just isnt big enough.

Allie looked surprised and sat up a little straighter. I was going to say, most of your devices fit into a backpack when theyre fully compressed. A full-sized pool table? That has to be massive.

Well, these days I aim more for pocket-sized, but yes. I based it off of the fort I used during the Path tournament. A bit of a clunky flying machine then, sure, but these days I can cram so much more stuff into a smaller space. The water was the really tricky part, because trying to conjure that much water, for the deployment speeds you want? Not happening. And compressing water in a spatial device is a pain in the ass.

Matt whistled lightly as he pondered what Aila was proposing. The woman had actually prompted a bout of star-struckdom when Matt was first introduced. While shed been out of the public eye for a few thousand years, Aila had been the first and so far only person to make it to Tier 20 on the Crafting Path, and did so while walking the divide and being a combat Pather as well. Her speciality was in turning the battlefield to her advantage instantly, by deploying turrets, siege-level mana cannons, entire forts, or huge golems that folded up small enough to be physically carried around. Her creations, even millennia later, were still the pride of those guilds lucky enough to get their hands on them, and many people had tried to replicate the style since, though never quite as successfully.

Torch, you fought the entire Tournament with only skills in your Outer Spirit? Light steered them back.

Only kind of. I tried to limit how much fire magic I was actually using. I actually used a lot of internal blood magic, and blood potions, boosting myself invisibly.

And of course, the mask blocked that, so nobody could figure it out, Light caught on.

Actually, it just made it look like fire magic, Liz corrected, The knowledge I was using internal spells was deemed enough of an advantage that the masks werent allowed to hide it entirely. If anyone had managed to look past my spiritual shielding, they would have seen what looked like an internal furnace of magic. But Im not aware of anyone who managed that, so it was kind of a moot point in the end.

Speaking of, Matt wondered, How did you end up as Light and Shadow? Its obviously not what your actual Talents are. Did you have an early manager as well? Heck, were you in the tournament as your real selves as well as your Masks?

The two Ascenders shared a glance. Nah, it was just as Light and Shadow. Zack and Allie didnt make enough of a name for ourselves to make it weird for us to drop off the map, Shadow spoke up with a smirk. We got a manager at Tier 5 because we kept stealing unused rift slots, but we werent as crazy as you two in terms of hiding our real abilities. I was Shadow because, well, I hit a lucky [Shadow Manipulation] in a Tier 9 rift, and it fit my natural abilities. Then of course, Zack went with Light because it was easy enough. He had to learn how to freehand hardlight for his front, but it worked well enough to hide what I was doing.

Light was expressionless, but Matt thought he caught a hint of pride in his voice as he said, Crystal mana contains enough similarities to light mana as to be difficult to distinguish, yet contains enough earth mana to be decidedly strong. Layering additional effects atop light mana was tricky, but valuable in giving me the staying power required in public fights.

You all and your managers, Dena teased. Is that the secret? Early managers? Just get that early teaching and dominate the tournament? If so, I demand a refund because we just got second and didnt have that.

Im sure that we could get a couple of extra Tier 14 skills if we asked, to make it up to you dear. Eric patted her on the shoulder, earning himself a light swat from one of the cloth strips coiled around Denas upper arm.

Thats not the point! We were ripped off, I tell you! Robbed of our rightful places!

It always has struck me as odd, Arthur added, That some Pathers receive early teaching simply due to their ability to break the rules of the Path. To me, it seems as though it would be more prudent to simply add them as late enrollment to the Academy system what?

All the Pathers in the room, even Dena, were shaking their heads, causing the healer to stop speaking.

While such a system may not be terrible in the abstract, Bulwark, in practice, the two programs are simply too incompatible, Light was the first to elaborate. I asked about that when we first got a manager. To begin, it is not so much breaking the rules of the Path, which attract a Manager, but rather breaking its spirit. It is wholly keeping within the rules of the Path for a seeker to find great treasures, for a crafter to make masterpieces, a teleporter to obviate some of the normal checks in place for rift delving. What the managers are present for is simply to manage. To force the seeker to find treasures they can utilize themselves, instead of selling them for something perfect. A crafter to work with the materials they have, rather than simply exploit business ventures to always possess the best possible tools.

Yeah, but the Academy system still forces you to earn the best tools, the healer rebut.

To earn, yes. Not make from scratch.

You can think of it like this, Arthur, Dena added as she leaned forward to see around Eric. The Academies are trying to fit people into a particular mold, while the Path is trying to find people who break the mold. The ones who attract an early Manager are those who really break the mold, and would fit perhaps the worst of all into the Academy system. Can you picture Allie trying to fit into an Academy? A Managers advantage comes with the incredible amount of benefit that they can scrounge up outside of the normal channels, but the Academies smother that somewhat by giving out resources that dwarf what even the best seeker could find on their own.

Its not like having an early Manager gives you that much of an advantage in the tournament anyway, Matt continued. Sure, we were way overprepared because of Luna, but as a result, we had to come up with fighting styles that more or less equate to our normal kits being utterly blocked. Liz had to fight with almost no blood magic, and I had to fight with almost no mana regeneration. Thats still something that Pathers learn, we just had to deal with it earlier. Besides, its at most a couple decades of extra instruction and inherently under Tier 10. It just doesnt make much of a difference in the long run for anyone going the whole two hundred years.

And yet, both of you won your respective tournaments basically with no problems. Arthur countered.

And now were Ascenders, Aster teased. Weird how that works out, isnt it? You know, Lila won her tournament as well.

Aiden didnt, Shadow pointed out with a dagger she had been cleaning her nails with, He got what, fifteenth?

Seventeenth, Joy clarified. Drifters comment drew glances from half the room. What? Im not just going to sit here while you all chit chat, incorrectly I might add, about something I saw, as unlike half the room I was actually alive for it. I didnt watch it live, but tournament recordings make for great downtime watching during the more boring bits of flying. But yeah, I watched the little shrimp back before he came out of Minkalla, got his Intent, and started delving up seven Tiers.

Still dont get how, Shadow muttered. Its not fair, you know? Ascenders are the best of the best yadda yadda, and then we have that guy as our older colleague, fighting Maya and The Last Line, when hes four Tiers below them. Like cmon, set some realistic standards for fighting other Ascenders!

Youre just jealous cause hes always so cryptic whenever you ask him for tips. Joy sniped at Shadow.

Its not like you got anything more out of him!

Joy shrugged, Yeah, but I get it. Back me up, Aila.

The gadgeteer shrugged a single shoulder. I mean, explaining stuff you just Innately understand can be tricky, but I dont think that his Talent is Innate Understanding of Domains. The way he talks about it just doesnt fit with how you get about piloting. I think hes just that good.

Matt chuckled, You know, my PlayPens Tier 15 told me that I wasnt going to be the next Duke Waters after I nearly killed myself in a rift challenge as a Tier 1. He meant I wasnt going to be an Ascender, and now here I am And yet, he was somehow still kind of right.

Your Tier 15 wasnt his name Griff or something? Eric asked. I remember he had a baby at the time, like I want to say nine months old?

Ten months, but barely. He seemed like a nice guy, but we didnt talk too much besides making sure he and the Tier 20 weren't incompetent, Dena corrected.

Its still wild to me that we ended up in the same deployment, Matt noted. Like seriously, what are the odds?

Better than you would think, Darrow interjected, and Shadow nearly fell out of her chair as she jerked upright. Apparently shed forgotten their commander was still in the room. In my initial assessment for potential team composition, I took into consideration their familiarity with not only you, Quill, but also their previous deployments with Light and Shadow.

Eric frowned. Im not sure how I feel about knowing that.

You were still fully qualified as was everyone else who made it through to be vetted by me, Darrow clarified. But consider that you are the youngest non-Ascenders here by two and a half thousand years, and with an accordingly lacking sheet of accomplishments. But those capable of working with Ascenders are something of a rare breed, and it is why more than half the Team is made of former members of the Path of Ascension, or those possessing experience with Ascenders. Drifters experience with Waters as his pilot from the start of the last war, and Torment being mentored by Worldwalker for a few years while at Academy were key factors.

It was a very productive and fascinating time, Sebastian agreed as Darrow mentioned him. The summoners voice was very even and carefully restrained, a far cry from the mans usual nearly over-the-top expressivism. The draconic perspective on restraining their natural impulses was quite useful. She is truly an awe-inspiring figure when not threatening to eat you. Then she is outright terrifying.

Matt was a bit surprised that Sebastian had been so quiet this far, but he supposed that he had undergone a tremendous shock with Matts Talents. The mans Talents made his inner demons very literal, manifesting sufficiently impactful memories or simply his emotions as actual monsters that he could summon.

But, if he didnt keep airtight control over his emotions, he could lose control over his summons and possibly even have them force their way out of his spirit. It sounded like an unenviable position to be in, ensuring his emotions were strong enough to be as powerful as they were, capable of wiping out entire squadrons on their own, but not so strong that he couldnt control them.

Indeed she is, Darrow continued. While Bolt and Bulwark may not have had any serious interactions with Ascenders, their shared missions with the rest of you and general personality led me to believe that they would be adequately able to adjust to the more irreverent mentality common to the typical Ascender.

Sebastian laughed uproariously, the booming sound carrying an infectious good mood. Now Im picturing Jefir trying to get along with Shadow! Could you imagine?

Darrows smile was a bit pained. Yes, Graduate Panopticon was on the initial list of candidates for Team Zero, but I deemed him comparatively unfit due to

The giant stick up his ass? Joy prompted, the pilot barely holding back laughter.

Who? Liz asked.

Jefir Valarona, Morgan supplied. The oldest Tier 25 Graduate still active at our Tier, and has been since I graduated. Hes a leader-type, capable of sharing senses and buffs between everyone in his group, but he is perhaps the single most uptight, self-righteous, by-the-book person I know. And I know Arthur.

Hey! the combat healer mockling protested, I resemble that remark!

Anyway, hes a great guy, but basically lives for the army. Treats it deadly seriously, and the idea of banter during a fight is basically anathema to him. Every strike should be your best, hit like you mean it, no toying with the enemy, all that sort of thing. The sniper leaned back, stroking her chin. I wonder if we locked him and Allie in a room together, who would snap and try to kill the other first?

Allie, Dena and Sebastian said in unison. Dena turned to the summoner, an eyebrow cocked.

Oh?

Jefir would just report her to his superior for disrespect and try to submit a petition to have her disciplined. Allie would just stab him.

See, and here I was making a joke about how just a few hours ago, Allie wanted to kill Matt, Liz, and Aster simply to see if she could.

Hey! Shadow protested, refusing to shrink back even as every eye in the room turned towards her. I wasnt trying to kill them, just cut them up a bunch. Oh, stop looking at me like that! Melinda could fix up anything I did to them no problem!

Allie, Light rubbed his temple. Wellspring is on leave.

Oh yeah Shadow tapped her chin in thought. Well Im sure I could find her!

Allie, please dont traumatize the poor girl any more than you already have, Aila sighed.

Oh come on! Shes a healer, shes got to be used to decapitated heads!

Shes not used to finding the head of an Ascender sitting in her closet, then having it opening its eyes and yelling boo at her! Origami rebut.

Is that really so bad? I thought it was funny.

Yes! Aila, Sebastian, and Joy shouted in unison.

Well I had fun.

We know, Aila sighed, kneading her forehead. We know.

Oh yeah! Melindas from Lilly as well, isnt she? Thats your homeworld, right Matt? Do you know her?

Allie, Light patiently ground out. Even a planet like Lilly still has millions of people on it, and hundreds of Pathers every year. Just because they-

Yeah, I know her, Matt laughed. He watched as Allie immediately started radiating smug satisfaction while Light deflated. We didnt have that much time overlapping at the PlayPen, but I hit it off with her group thanks to her husband Mathew, on account of the whole shared-name thing and him opening a door in my face. Their team are some of my best friends So shes in Project Breach as well?

Eric nodded. Shes the golden child of Group Kudzu. I think half the reason the group even exists is to teach her basically everything they know about healing. Theres some impressive names involved. Harvest Moon, Silvermore, Lifesprig, The Bone Artisan, and those are just the ones I know of. Uhhh are they cleared to know her Talent?

Darrow nodded, but before Eric could continue, Aster piped up, What, her overhealth?

That prompted a round of stares, and Liz took way too much delight in noncommittally shrugging. What? Matt was in the room when she unlocked it, of course we know.

Thats not strictly true, Matt clarified. But its close enough. Also, I dont know if she ever mentioned it, but it was actually a joint research project between me, her, and this researcher Luna introduced us to, Erwin, that ended up creating the first [Bandage] rifts.

Light sighed, Because of course Researcher Karl was in on this as well.

Oh, Erwins around here? No wonder Luna wasnt able to snag him for some more tests. Matt peered around as if he wasnt in a room impenetrable to spiritual sense before catching himself.

Yes, he is one of the lead researchers assisting with my mana type research, Light sighed. Do you know half of the members in Fort Lightfoot already?

Matt grinned as he said, Feels like it, at this point. I guess Lunas reputation for having the best connections isnt understated.

She certainly was one of the most difficult teachers I had during all my time at the Academy, Arthur said. Though it was always substantially easier learning under her than most of the guest lecturers.

So it wasnt just me! Aster exclaimed as she spun in her chair. I thought things were so much easier to pick up on when Luna was teaching me compared to trying to learn stuff at the Bond Academy. I was barely above average in some topics there, but as soon as Luna started teaching me I got it immediately.

Our general best guess is that its her Domain. Something about cutting away imperfections and bad habits, Morgan supplied. Or misconceptions, cutting right to the heart of the matter, something like that. Because yeah, Luna doesnt have any of the more obvious teacher-type powers but wow is she effective.

Sebastian nodded, I had her as a teacher at Tier 3, and her lessons on cutting away distractions served as a core for my Concept. I dont know that I would have survived without her advice, and simply her presence and set of lectures managed to excise several of my more problematic demons at the time.

Im just glad I didnt have her, Allie declared. She just sounds utterly miserable to me.

I do wonder how it would have gone if she had been our Manager, Light said at about the same time. She might have gotten Allie to actually pay attention for once.

Honestly she might. She can be scary, Morgan noted. Ive seen her boss around both Lila and Queen Mara herself at times.

Yes, well they were her students, Arthur pointed out.

Thats my point! What kind of impression does she make if she can still order around the Queen of the Beasts and an Ascender on the cusp of Ascending, more than twenty thousand years since she actually had them as students?

Luna isnt that bad, Matt protested. Its not like her expectations are entirely unreasonable. Shes very good at figuring out what youre able to accomplish given your current power and skills. She never pushes too far.

Nor one inch less, Aster grumbled and Liz snorted in agreement.

I am just so happy I never had to deal with all that nonsense of Managers, guest teachers, impossible expectations. The army was just, Hey Joy! I noticed youve shot down fifty enemy fighters, you can instantly master flying any kind of spacecraft you ever see within five minutes of seeing it, your ships never explode, and your Intent is all about flying! Why dont you become a Prima Ace? And I never looked back.

You never look back? No wonder everything falls apart whenever you land, if you keep ramming into the ground, Aila jabbed the point of her elbow into the pilots side.

Oi! Youll pay for that. Joy waved a fist, ready to punch Origami.

Not to distract too much from your team bonding, Darrow cut off the two women before it could devolve into a full wrestling match. But Scoop, would you share your Talents as well?

Ah, mine arent that special. Aster flicked an ear as she sent off her message. Pretty much what youd expect from a first-generation arctic fox.

Hey, normal doesnt mean bad, Dena piped up. We need more normal! We need a not-completely-overpowered-Talent support group, and it can be me, Eric, Aster, and Darrow. All of you can have your fun being inherently powerful, while we celebrate earning our way to the top!

Excuse me? Liz gasped, pretending to be offended. My first Talent doesnt even give me something good! It basically makes me use only a single form of magic, one that my bloodline doesnt even match.

She dramatically struck her heart with her hands. My Talent is officially neutral, how dare you suggest its overpowered! Dena looked around at the rest of them. Yeah, well Matts is officially detrimental, but raise your hand if you think that his isnt the strongest in the room.

Allie raised her hand.

Allie, strength is not measured in how easy it is to get out of meetings, Zack said flatly.

Allie put her hand back down.

There. Now that thats settled.

You know, could you really say that Innate Understanding is inherently strong? You need to do a lot of work to do anything with it, Aila asked, and Joy signaled her agreement.

Look, if we want to quibble about whose Talent is stronger, we could argue that Denas is the absolute strongest, Aster joked. You know, on account of being the only one that boosts strength?

Yeah, yeah, we get it. But its not like it even helps me lift anything, she shot back. So really it only helps me if I get way too fat.

Matt glanced back at the Talents shed shared.

Tier 1: Increased internal body strength.

Tier 3: Move your center of gravity. Speed/detail increases with Tier.

Tier 25: Increase or decrease your personal weight at will.

I dont know, it definitely says increased strength right there, he pointed out.

Increased internal strength, she protested. It helps with pushups!

And acrobatics, Eric added teasingly.

Hush you, she blushed. It doesnt make me actually stronger, just

Stronger? Allie struck, sensing weakness. I dont know, I think that what you do with those ropes definitely requires strength.

I dont what? Traitors!

Allie teleported the spellbook in front of Zack to her hands, summoning a pen and pretending to write in the books pages, Dena definitely uses her ropes Hey!

Light snatched his book back from his partner, the spellbooks pages fluttering indignantly. Matt wasnt one to anthropomorphize things, but that book had emotions in its flutterings.

It must be intelligent, Matt mused. Just like Allies cloak. I wonder if anyone else got Hills Have Eyes?

On further reflection, there could have been other ways to make an item intelligent, like how most Minkalla rewards could be replicated outside of it, but it could also have been like Spiritual Journey, where the generally-accepted replication method for the powerful spirit bond the floor could provide was get a beast bond. He didnt actually know how many obscure natural treasures there were and what they could do.

Look, out of all of us, mine is probably the closest to a normal Talent we have, Dena protested. Just a minor boost to a useful, but fairly niche situation. Then maybe Eric, Arthur, Darrow, Joy, and Aster in that order? Cultivation boost, elemental boost, mid-quality innate skill, Innate Understanding, and an innate manipulation?

Innate Understandings are more common than Innate skills, Aila pointed out.

Yeah, but generally theyre so niche and specific. Spaceship piloting seems like a fairly mid-level one, definitely rating between [Mages Sight] and [Ice Manipulation].

It was a bit odd, Matt reflected, that Darrows Talent wasnt, in fact, the purple and blue eye in the middle of his forehead. His were instead more innocuous at first glance.

Tier 1: Innate [Mages Sight].

Tier 3: Vision and visual senses are enhanced with Tier.

Courtesy of thousands of years at Tier 15, their commander had modified both his Innate skill and his body in unison, dedicating the totality of his Tier 1 Talent to the installed eye in the middle of his forehead. It was an impressive degree of dedication and ingenuity, and reminded Matt that while he was the best of the best, it still wouldnt do to underestimate his foes. They were thousands of years older than him, had tricks bordering on the impossible, and he would be expected to beat them all completely blind, while they grew ever more-familiar with his own limits, capabilities, and counters.

So then whose is the least normal then? Aila prodded.

Dena hmmed to the crafters question. Lets see Its probably a tie between a free Tier 44 skill, making more mana than anyone could ever spend in a lifetime, making every skill they cast arcane affinity, and being able to punch your anger in the face.

You dont want to punch Anger, Sebastian pitched in. Its Fear you need to punch. Punching Anger would just make it stronger.

But then you could just punch it even harder, after that, Eric added.

Well now you just sound like Rusty, Allie shot back.

Look, if I could deal with bad memories with a solid hammerblow Id be so happy, you dont even know, Eric replied.

Sure, but yours dont get stronger with Tier. Torment pointed out.

Speaking of advancing, Aster asked, How does that work for us, now? Are we going to be given essence stones to reach the peak of Tier 25?

Darrow shook his head, but Allie cut him off, Pshhh, no way. With my Talent, we just jump back to a Tier 27 rift whenever. More interesting that way, and its a nice bit of downtime.

That was a bit of a relief to Matt, who was worried that now that they were a part of the army theyd just be force-fed essence stones, and he couldnt stand to be such a passive observer in his own advancement.

Darrow added a bit more context, We do provide essence stones for those not at the peak of Tier 25, but while we encourage their use, it is not policy to force the issue. Ascender Waters famously delved the rifts of systems he captured, but as this is more of a defensive war, that is effectively impossible at this time. I would advise utilizing essence stones to bring yourself up to mid-Tier 25, to be equal with Light and Shadow, but I will not mandate it.

Well consider it, Liz replied. We get the necessity, but we never liked using them on the Path when we could help it. Essence stones just feel like cheating. Or not cheating, but

No need to justify yourself, the general sighed. At least youre more reasonable about it than Shadow was.

I was perfectly reasonable!

You teleported the essence stones provided to you to the bottom of a garbage heap. Darrow worked his jaw like he wanted to say more, but refrained.

Yeah, I dumped them in a spot where youd notice where they were, instead of dropping them in deep space or whatever. How is that not reasonable?

Darrow simply sighed. Regardless, between your Talent for longevity and Shadows ability to all but eliminate travel time within a rift, you should at least be capable of incredibly fast delving speeds during down time between missions.

Ill also be happy to provide my mana for the recharging of rifts or other crafting processes, and Ive already agreed with the Emperor that Ill produce two hours worth of mana production each day. Anything beyond that, Im still willing to do, but will be a bit more case-by-case.

Thank you, Ascender Quill. Is there anything you will need in your support of that?

Matt nodded. A specialized storage ring that I could create mana stones into directly with my Tier 25 Talent would be appreciated. I still need to practice a lot, but hopefully I can get it to be almost automatic during my downtime. They just get big, fast.

To show what he meant, he created a mana stone on his hand and quickly expanded it to the size of a human head. That's about 5 million mana, but Im pretty sure that as I get used to my Tier 25 Talent, I can get them a little smaller. And as my mana concentration increases, that's going to be a slow process.

General Darrow nodded even as the mana stone appeared in Allie's hand and she started to inspect it, before Light took it from her and started to peer into the facets that had naturally formed. His majesty King Frederic said a team would be moving permanently into Fort Lightfoot to take care of that in the next few months. Or, if Allie would be amenable to it, picking it up from his kingdom in the next few days as our only long-range rift breacher.

The teleporter in question was already shaking her head vigorously. Nope, not doing it. Im not a moving company. Im not volunteering for extra jumps.

Light looked at him at the news, so Matt took a few moments to explain about the mana concentration formation and how it worked, while Darrow watched with a studiously blank expression.

When Matt saw Light turn to Allie, he knew two things. One, that General Darrow did know how to manipulate Ascenders, and the second was that Light was a man after his own heart who liked to tinker. And the idea of a new formation had piqued his interest.

Actually, three things.

Allie could tell General Darrow to fuck off and mean it, but Light was able to worm through her shell.

Please.

No. Im not doing it. It's just an extra jump now, but open the floodgates, and I might as well turn into a cargo ship.

Please.

N. O. It spells no.

Allie.

Ugh, fine! But you all owe me!

With a pop, she vanished, and General Darrow smiled slightly. Thank you, Ascender Light.

So you can make crystals in any shape or amount of mana, right? Aila asked, having claimed the mana crystal at some point. Matt smiled slightly in response.

Indeed I can. Though, I need a bit more practice for anything more complicated than the natural crystalline shape they like to default to.

And this thing contains five million mana, you said?

Yes.

And you made this in less than a second?

Matt nodded, a little hesitantly.

The crafter tore her gaze away from the oversized mana crystal, locking eyes with Liz as she tilted her head towards Matt. So are you willing to share?

Liz snorted, and half the room broke out laughing.

***

Much later, their meeting came to a close, and Darrow pulled Matt, Liz, and Aster aside. We have a couple in-rift months before your first skirmish. In the meantime, if you would be able to meet with Group Firmament to begin designing your new armors and weapons, Ill send you a schedule. Please make an appointment; theyre busy enough as-is. In the meantime, I would also advise meeting with Group Branch. Theyre focused on training and teaching, and can pull in some fairly famous specialists depending on what youd like to learn. Though, even now, there are quite a few generalist trainers already in-rift, including your manager Luna, should you wish to continue working with her. Though, if youd rather never see her again, that is also perfectly acceptable and can be arranged. He must have seen the confusion on their faces before Darrow elaborated about the last sentence. Allie demanded to never see her management team again.

Luna is fine, Liz replied. Though I dont know if well only be working with her.

Nor would I expect you to.

Oh, the three of you are going to Branch? Light asked, approaching them with Allie teleporting in right behind him. I heard that Trainer Luna had been recruited into Project Breach, and wished to meet with her. Would you like to accompany us?

Matt shrugged, Sure?

Allie grumbled something unintelligible, but Light was unphased. Thank you, Allie.

Right, you better be thankful.

Its not like its any harder for you, Light pointed out.

Now that just isnt even true, Allie grumbled. And right after you volunteered me for a supply run halfway across the Empire.

The world flashed blue, and then the five of them were in an unfamiliar, but spacious, training hall. Matt couldnt even confess to being surprised that Luna was already there, waiting for them.

Good, you three are here, their former manager wasted no time. If youd send me your new Talents, we can get started on having you master them. I also heard that you were in the medical bay for mana backlash, Matt, do we need to have words?

Before Matt could answer, Light spoke up, Trainer Luna. It is a pleasure to meet you. My own manager often spoke of you favorably, and said that your style would be particularly apropos of my own preferred casting methodology. I would be interested in receiving lessons from you, particularly in the realm of lossless elemental conversions.

A catlike grin spread across Lunas face as she replied, Of course, Ascender Light. It would be my utmost pleasure. Now, Ascender Shadow

Allie began to teleport away, but a hand flashed out, transforming into a paw.

One yelp later, and Allie was caught up by the nape of her neck. I believe that you would benefit quite strongly from my aid. I would advise regularly scheduling lessons with me, and unlike Korun, I will not accept excuses for teleports gone askew when you miss them. Particularly for group training and drills.

Allie shook her head vigorously. I would never. I

Luna interrupted her as she moved her face close to the Ascenders. I have created four teams of Ascenders and more elites of every form than I can count. You arent the most rambunctious person I have managed by a long shot. I will break you if I have to.

You ca

Allison. Miss one of my classes and I. Will. Eat. You.

When Allie swallowed hard, Luna asked, Do you understand?

Allie nodded her head vigorously. Crystal clear boss lady.

Luna dropped the still nodding Allie and turned to Matt, Liz, and Aster.

Days away from my tutelage, and you are already becoming overconfident. It's a good thing the tribunal asked me to come and help you fools, or you would show your asses the first time things got hairy.

Despite her angry demeanor, Matt was happy to see Luna, and somehow, knowing she would still be in their corner and was willing and able to help them going forward, made Matt smile.

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