The Path of Ascension 3: A LitRPG Adventure

10

They pushed through the crowd in time to see Princess Sara hit the butt of her lance against the ground. “Come on! Let’s ditch this place. How about this? You come with me to the rift, and I’ll let you know where we’re entering the planet.”

“Like you would betray your queendom or mother. She would have your skin.”

Sara shrugged. “She would chew me out, but I’ve been chewed out before. It can be worth it if the cause is just, or the person doing the chewing is the right person. Do you want to be that person? You could put that cut jaw of yours to good use.”

Matt wanted to laugh at all of them. He wasn’t sure if it was a ploy to get the prince flustered, or real affection. But the woman was shaking the prince up well and truly. The royal didn’t look like he knew how to handle the woman’s advances.

If she was serious, Matt was impressed with her determination and forwardness. If she really liked the prince, she was pursuing him directly. Whether that would work with the kingdom’s seemingly backward morals or not was to be seen, but it was an entertaining sight to behold.

“I would ask you to stop your antics and leave. Against my better judgment, I’ve already agreed to your proposal if you win the war, and that’s the last I’ll hear of it until a victor is decided. Remember that I get twelve percent of your income from delving for a year if I win. I would also appreciate it if you stopped encroaching into my kingdom’s territory before we begin.”

She shrugged and called out to the watching crowd, “Then get better security! We have quite a few unsigned Pathers here. Why don’t we have a spar to show them their potential leaders? If you want to win the war, you will have to do better than your current attempts at recruiting. A good fight, best of ten engagements.”

The prince laughed. “And let you take the advantage with your higher attacks? No, if we fight, it will be until one surrenders. I won’t let you take advantage of your burst damage like that.”

“You want to spend more time with me? Perfect!” She clapped her hands together and twirled slightly. “Let’s fight then.”

The prince looked once again thrown off his plan with her change in tune, but quickly he settled himself.

Matt expected for them to clear an area right there and get to it, but one of the floating platforms moved over. It was a flat grassland with a single tree covered in brown leaves. It had a thick, green trunk that contrasted with the burnt orange hue of the grass.

Even the princess looked at the weird flora of the arena with a c****d head, as it gently landed in the lawn. The prince shook himself out of his trance first, and he climbed to the grassy arena, taking a position on one side of the circle. To Matt’s surprise, he was nearly half the size he should be, and the grass came up to his knees.

Is everything here spatially expanded?

The cost seemed extravagant, but Matt paid attention to the prince’s armament. He had upgraded from the last time the trio saw him fight. Now, the prince had a blue sword and yellow shield combo that seemed to meld with the armor that grew from his skin like liquid metal.

It wasn’t metal though, Matt’s AI identified it as the skill stopped forming. [Living Crystal] wasn’t bad but wasn’t amazing either. Its major downside was that the crystal was brittle, and restricted movement of the caster’s body. It had its advantages in that it rendered slashing attacks and most magical attacks all but useless. The skill was essentially relegated to those who couldn’t afford better, or those that could either leverage one of its advantages, or negate its downsides.

The prince was clearly in the second category. His Talent was obviously something that made him crystalline. But the odd thing, at least to Matt’s mind, was that the man’s skill had clearly merged with his Talent. It made him bulkier, but without the rigidity that the skill normally imparted.

Princess Sara hopped into the ring with much less armor than her counterpart. Her arms and shoulders were covered in a heavy armor set, but the rest of her armor was either leather or light mail. Her shoulder pauldrons extended up nearly a foot, and were angled in a way to direct blows over her armored head. Matt took note of them, as he had never seen anything like that in an actual battle before.

It was an interesting combination that seemed to revolve around her lance.

Lances weren’t standard foot fighting equipment. It was usually used by mounted attackers, or those with a lot of speed. As the princess didn’t have a mount, Matt expected the reality to be the second option, and he was proven correct as soon as the fight started.

Sara launched forward with incredible speed that cut a swath through the oddly colored grass. She bolted in a straight line for the prince.

Her glowing polearm led the way, but the prince simply set himself into a defensive stance, clearly willing to take the attack head-on instead of dodging. His reasoning was proven correct, as when the princess got within fifteen feet of the prince, she reappeared on his right side, momentum intact.

Matt wasn’t sure if it was a teleport variation or something more unique, but his AI took note of an important clue. Her current location relative to the prince had maintained a perfectly circular arc when compared to her previous position.

Albert then stepped forward while spinning, with his blade cutting across at Sara’s neck level, and his shield reaching over to block the glowing lance.

The sword and lance were both blocked by their wielder’s respective armors. Sara’s shoulder pauldrons perfectly meshed with her helmet when her arm was extended, and caused Albert’s blow to deflect up and over her head. At the same time, her glowing lance was knocked to the side by the prince’s shield.

Sara moved through and out of the prince’s range, but it was too late for her to completely dodge the [Earth Spike] that Albert created and kicked at her retreating back.

As she passed the fifteen-foot range, Sara vanished, then charged at Albert for a second time. Now, she came directly at the prince from directly ahead. He hadn’t expected a frontal assault, so his pivot toward the wrong direction in anticipation was costly. He turned his head to face the princess just in time to watch the glowing lance catch him in the side, testing his skill enhanced skin.

To Matt’s surprise, the kingdom’s leader was neither cut down, nor pulled out of the ring by the hovering referee. He only had a deep gouge cut from his crystal armor that had slowly begun to heal itself.

This time, Sara moved through the fifteen-foot radius, and kept going until she was fifty feet away.

“Mhmm that’s so hot, Albie. No one at my Tier has ever taken one of my attacks so casually.” Even under her helmet, she c****d a cheeky grin and asked, “Why won’t you marry me? We could do this every day.”

“I barely know you!? I’m sure you can find someone else with a strong defense if that’s your largest criteria.”

“Yeah, but none of them would have your chiseled good looks,” the princess replied with a smirk.

The prince now looked cool and collected in the face of the woman who stood outside of his range.

Liz whispered, “Oh, she has him now.”

Matt was turning to look at Liz when an explosion rocked the stadium.

As the dust settled, the now soot-blackened prince charged out of a crater with his shield leading the way.

Sara seemed unprepared for this and was unable to create enough distance to effectively use her lance.

Albert wasn’t in any better shape, as half of the crystalline armor on his lower half was shattered. It had only just started growing back to cover the exposed skin as he started his charge.

Sara backstepped and cast [Twister], causing a funnel of swirling air to launch at the prince. He paused just long enough for her to pass through the fifteen-foot radius around Albert, and she reappeared at his sword side in another charge.