The Path of Ascension 3: A LitRPG Adventure

13

They had been sent with fifty Tier 7 mana stones to charge the fort quickly. That was a Tier 8 mana stone worth of value, but the pile of little crystals had 40,000 mana in total. It always amazed him how much value an increase in Tier could make. From Tier 7 to Tier 8, the mana capacity only increased from 400 mana to 500, but the cost was fifty times larger.

Even with the economics explained to him during his schooling, such an increase felt strange to him. The mana stone value was set from the top down, with the stone’s value being more representative of their worth as the Tiers increased.

Matt charged the stone himself and pocketed the money. The job was being done either way, and he felt no guilt in taking the stones for himself. To the kingdom, a single Tier 8 mana stone’s value wasn’t anything of note, but that was a few nights at a really nice hotel for Matt, Aster, and Liz.

Five minutes later, he exited the fortress and took up his position on the wall. Being the last one out, he got the worst spot of them all. It was built up the side of the mountain, and he had to crane his neck just to observe his section of the wall. Luckily, it wasn’t all that bad, as he just leaned his chair against the inside wall to recline.

Not even ten minutes later, a message from Juni came through, asking about their situation. Liz quickly reported in. There was nothing to see, and they were told to sit tight until they were relieved or given other orders.

With little else to do, Matt let his AI use most of his available mana running simulations of their team fighting various opponents or completing random tasks. While his AI worked, he alternated between practicing his mana manipulation and using his Concept to make fields to stand on. The first task was actually going well. While his new mana generation rate was hurting his mana control, he was picking it back up.

On the other hand, using his Concept to will the air to repulse him was nearly nonfunctional. With his weight pressing down on a disk, he just sank through what little resistance he could muster with his Concept. It was like standing on quicksand. It was enough to slow his descending foot, but it wasn’t anywhere close to keeping him aloft.

As he continued to practice, he kept most of his attention on the surrounding area in front of his position. Even his AI was analyzing his vision for any anomalies. Two hours later, he was still wrapped up in his distractions when Annie messaged them through their team channel.

“Got something on my side. Scrub grass moved perpendicular to the wind for a moment.”

Matt wanted to turn and look but kept his vision on his area instead. He hopped off his chair and changed his position. If there were hidden lurkers, he didn’t want to be an easy target for an archer.

Liz’s next words gave him a little more detail on the situation. “The one I highlighted?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. We see it.”

A second later, and there was a thunderclap that echoed off the mountain cliffs and fortress walls.

Someone jerked in front of Matt, and an arrow slammed into the crenelation beside him. He and everyone else called out variations of “Hidden enemies!”

Matt summoned his sword with a thought and started charging it with mana. As it neared 2,000 mana, he swung his sword forward while activating [Mana s***h]. The crescent-shaped mana attack rushed forward, but dissipated before it could cover the two hundred-foot distance between him and his retreating attacker. He cursed his impulsive use of the skill. If he had used his crossbow, he might have hit his target when their camouflage was disrupted.

Conor asked through their voice chat, “Do we engage?”

Liz answered immediately, “Our orders were to only engage if we thought we had a chance.” She paused before continuing, “Besides, they look to be retreating. Let me call in.”

During the lull, Matt scanned the area around the rocky outcropping where his attacker had disappeared. He didn’t quite fancy fighting in those tight quarters. Flying would be iffy, as the anti-flying formation spread out for nearly half a mile, and unlike the city’s formation, this one couldn’t tell friend from foe. It was a trade-off for its cheaper operation cost.

After another minute, Liz came back on and said, “We are to pursue and try to capture the attackers. Note that if you do so much damage they would die, they’ll get pulled away by the army, and we won’t get to question them. Watch out for suicide. That’s been a common tactic of theirs to avoid capture.”

Matt took over at that point. His AI had been burning mana by the millions since their spars last night. He had run simulation after simulation with their group in every scenario he could think of.

“Annie, go invisible and see what you can find. Watch out for traps to cover their retreat. We’ll form up and forge a path behind you.”

“I know what to look out for.” Her tone wasn’t snippy, but it was a good reminder that his team knew their jobs better than he and his AI did. He wasn’t too worried for the woman. From what he could glean after their spar, he didn’t believe that her Talent was solely invisibility. No matter what she said, [Invisibility] and its lower Tier variants didn’t stop water ripples, or weight creating impressions in soft mud.

When they practiced in the sparring yard, the woman didn’t leave these, or any other indications of her presence when invisible. No matter what she said though, he didn’t buy it. But that was okay. She had the right to her secrets. It wasn’t like he didn’t lie about his own Talent.

If his AI was right, she could have a cracked skill variant that gave some form of invisibility and intangibility. That, or her Talent did something even more unorthodox, like make her entirely unnoticeable. He didn’t think the last option was very likely. When he checked an area she had walked through an hour afterwards, there were still no signs of disturbance.

Either way, she would be fine if she didn’t walk into an ambush. That was what took her out in most of his simulations. He didn’t have enough data on her ability to detect traps to accurately model her actions. It was an oversight that he intended to correct when they got back to the neutral city. There had been training rooms dedicated specifically for stealth and reconnaissance, and he wouldn’t mind picking up some of those skills himself.

The rest of them gathered at the front entrance and unbarred the door. It left them vulnerable, but anyone who wanted to come in after them would need a way to scale the twenty foot wall. Even with their enhanced bodies, jumping that distance was nearly impossible to do without a climbing rope or a ladder.

Either way, it would take time, and they had their orders to sally out.

Annie sent a message ten minutes later that she had found the rendezvous point where their attackers retreated to. It was half a mile away and just outside the no-fly zone. Matt nodded and lowered the locking bar behind his team as they exited the fortress. Running, he climbed the stairs and jumped down from the wall with a crash of dust.