The Path of Ascension 5: A LitRPG Adventure

4

Literally.

Leon turned into a gray cloud that gave off a drizzle and sparks before popping like a balloon then twirling around as his cloud lost its shape. As he dramatically deflated, Mara crumbled into a pile of ash, swept herself up with a dustpan, and put herself into a trash can.

Still hovering where she had been hugged, Aster pleaded for Matt to save her.

From inside the trash can, a distant Mara asked, “Can we convince you to change your mind?”

A squeaky Leon backed his wife up. “Yeah, kids are great, and grandkids are better! You sure you don’t want one?”

Biting his lip to not laugh at the ridiculousness of the scene, Matt got out, “No. Quite sure.”

The two let out sighs as their forms recreated themselves, and they were back to their human proportions as if their little display hadn’t even happened.

Seemingly unperturbed, the duo said as one, “Eh, we’ll get grandkids eventually. No rush.”

Mara continued to hold Aster as they started to walk forward, and she said, “Come on, let’s go to our house so you three can settle in. Then, we’ll portal you over to whatever planet you’re coming from with your cover identities.”

Matt looked around to see if anyone was listening and overheard that slip of the tongue but finally noticed that not a single person was aware of their presence.

In fact, people were walking through them as if they weren’t there at all.

How they were managing that, Matt didn’t have the faintest clue, but was grateful that they hadn’t blown years’ worth of work in a single instant.

He started to understand Liz’s feelings and, as he met her eyes, she smirked and shrugged as if to say that was just how they were.

Matt found that he actually enjoyed it now that he knew they weren’t actually reckless and were simply too strong to not have the same considerations.

Leon then snapped his fingers and asked, “Oh, yeah. What are your cover identities’ names?”

Matt smirked as Liz rolled her eyes. “I’m Shawn, Liz is Jules, and Aster is Lassie, then our public masks are Torch and Quill. Nice, simple, and descriptive.”

Leon took the names in stride and said, “Good to know. We’re getting shirts made for the entire family so we can cheer you guys on!”

That brought Liz back into the conversation, and she asked, “Oh? Who’s coming?”

Mara, with Aster still cradled in her arms, said, “Everyone, silly! This is a big event for you guys, and it’s a great time to get everyone together. It’s been far too long since we all gathered.”

As they walked down the crowded streets, Matt observed the couple.

From outward appearances, they were no different from any other couple besides the casually performed feats that went beyond any skill or ability that Matt knew of.

Their physical, practical jokes were impressive, but what really shocked him was how they seemed to be aware of everything at once.

Without taking her attention off of Aster, who had finally started to speak, Mara casually caught a passerby who was too engrossed in their AI to notice they were about to walk off the sidewalk and righted them.

Things like that happened everywhere they went, and Matt didn’t miss the subtle spatial magic they were performing. Each of the group’s steps seemed to take them half of the city block and, quickly, they were at a seemingly normal building.

Granted, the building was only normal when the planet was taken into consideration. It being a skyscraper that Matt couldn’t even see the top of and spatially expanded to an extreme level.

As they entered, Matt was shocked.

At Tier 10, his spiritual sense was able to cover half a mile if he extended it in one direction, but even with that, he was unable to see anything past the lobby. The giant, golden circle that pulsated above the desk gave off a majestic feeling of might and grandeur.

The lobby was currently accommodating at least a few thousand people just trying to get a room from the snippets of conversation that Matt heard, but Mara and Leon quickly moved them to a bank of elevators.

Leon, seeing Matt’s confusion, and that Mara was busy with a chattering Aster, explained, “Space is at a super-premium on the capital worlds. And right now, it’s even worse than usual. Most buildings are expanded at around a hundred times their normal size, giving us way more room for people. This is a hotel that caters to transient travelers who’re here to delve the rifts, so it’s long-term accommodations usually. But with the influx of people, we’ll see more temporary tenants.”

Matt was slightly confused at the implications and asked, “So, you guys got a room? I figured you would stay with Tur’stal. I hope it wasn’t an inconvenience to accommodate us.”

Leon returned an equally confused look before laughing. “Oh, no! Tur’stal’s great, and we have an open invitation to stay with her, but we own the hotel chain, so we stay here.”

Matt paused as the line in front of the elevator moved, unable to take a step forward.

That level of wealth was off the charts, even for him, and as he calculated the number of people delving, he shook his head in wonder.

Leon continued. “Yup, we own all the Feathered Nestled Inns throughout the Empire. We have hotel chains on every capital planet.”

Matt paused and looked at the Tier 48 to see if he was joking, but seeing the earnest happiness on his face, Matt had to ask, “But we aren’t in a Feathered Nestled Inn. We came into the Golden Circle Inns.”

Leon froze before turning and standing on his toes to see the front desk again.

“Haha. Whoops! Honey, we went to the wrong hotel again.”

Mara looked up from her conversation with Liz and Aster before saying, “We’re at the Feathered Nestled Inn. How is that wrong?”

Liz rolled her eyes and said, “You two are idiots. There’s a giant floating circle of gold above us. How’d you mess that up?”

Mara laughed before turning and leading them away and back down the street until they reached an even larger building that boasted a giant flaming red feather floating over the lobby. It radiated a gentle warmth that washed over them as soon as they entered.

Mara nodded. “That’s better. I was wondering where my feather went. We were just in the wrong building. Silly me.”

There’s no way she meant that it’s literally her feather, right?

Matt was stupefied at the sight.

It’s at least a hundred feet long, and not even from a wing. The shape is all wrong for that. How big are her wing feathers?

He gave it another look, probing it more intensely with his spiritual sense, but it felt utterly identical to the woman skipping alongside them.

Just how big is her other form?

He had seen videos of Mara’s fights, but he had never gotten a good scale of her before. Seeing the feather forced him to reevaluate all the videos he had seen with a new perspective.

As they rode the elevator to the top floor, they reached a set of rooms that divided the building into six equal suites.

Aster asked the question before Matt could. “Why are there so many rooms? I thought you would have the entire floor.”

Mara laughed as she skipped along. “We keep the top floor available for all the royals. Lets us have an area that we can be ourselves in without bothering whoever rules the place.”

Matt nodded until the number stood out to him. There were six rooms when there should have only been five.

The Emperor, one. Mara and Leon, the second. Rusty, Tur’stal, and Harper. That only equaled five.

“Do you each have a room here?”

Leon shook his head. “No. We installed the sixth room recently. Spoiler alert to the start of the proceedings, but we’re getting a new royal. It’s been kept quiet, but the official announcement will be made at the opening ceremony. His name is Frederic or something.”

Mara rolled her eyes and spun around as she opened the door. “You know his name, dear. Don’t be a spoilsport because he beat you at poker game night.”

Leon pouted as thunder clouds started to circle his head, and he murmured. “He beat me with a bluff. It’s not fair. How was I supposed to know reflective sunglasses would let him see my cards? Who could have guessed?”

Matt was still laughing at the absurd image of all the royals playing poker and the two goofballs being themselves when they entered the suite.

With the outward size of the building, he had expected something grand and opulent, but it was the exact opposite.

The place was downright homey.

The five of them entered into a smallish living room with two couches and a loveseat centered around a wall-mounted screen. It was playing a kids’ show he recognized with a mouse and cat getting into various shenanigans. Even from where he stood, he could see a decent-sized kitchen, but it looked well-lived-in instead of fancy.

Liz noticed his perusal as she took him through the living room to a small hall with only four doors.

She stopped at the first and opened it to show him a massive workout room and connected sparring room. “Workout and sparring here.”

She passed the next one saying. “That’s my parents’ room. Don’t go in there unless you want to be scarred for life.”

Mara’s head stretched into the hall from around the corner and said, “We told you not to come in if the door was shut, little chick. s*x is natural. How do you think we got you?”

Liz shoved her mother’s head and extended neck back around the corner before she opened the third door, on the same side as the sparring room. “Library. Feel free to peruse at your own leisure. They have everything you can think of in paper form. Even some restricted and higher Tier tomes.”