The Path of Ascension 5: A LitRPG Adventure

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That forced the Tier 10s to buy their combat equipment at the normal prices for their Tier, but that didn’t stop a number of higher Tier companies, guilds, and independent crafters from making lower Tier items.

Due to the better enchantments and experience used in their construction, the prices were correspondingly higher. They were at least three times the price of a normal item of their Tier, forcing the items out of most people’s price ranges.

Besides, there was only so much power that even the best Tier 35 enchanter could eke out of Tier 11 or Tier 12 materials.

All of that culminated into Annie, Emily, and Conor each only buying one Tier 12 item in their tour of the various shops.

Matt found the items they ended up buying interesting and was somewhat surprised by their choices.

Annie, being an invisible and mostly intangible assassin, was the only one who bought an item that he expected. It was a dirk that was able to extend its reach with a razor-thin edge of mana. When combined with the high Tier materials and armor penetration enchantments, it made for a fantastic strength multiplier for her abilities.

Emily and Conor bought what Matt considered strange choices.

The mage who increased the damage of her spells after each elemental skill used didn’t buy a new staff, nor anything to augment her spell repertoire as he expected. Instead, she purchased a robe that was so chock full of defensive enchantments that it glowed slightly when active.

While its physical resilience was only mediocre, the spider silk Tier 12 robe was nearly impervious to magical attacks of any kind.

Matt understood the logic behind her reasoning but would have gone with something to lessen the strain on her spirit from the increased spells instead.

Conor bought a helmet Matt vehemently disagreed with.

The helmet had the normal enchantments of any defensive armor, but they were kept at a level normal to most armor of that Tier. The major enchantment was a sight amplifier for mana sight.

When wearing the helmet, Conor was able to see ambient mana with his eyes instead of only feeling it with his spiritual sense.

It was a choice that Matt didn’t understand, but Conor seemed happy with it, so he didn’t question his friend’s decision. Conor had more than proven his competence and acumen in the vassal war.

When the money earned from his team’s fights in various tournaments was taken into consideration, the cost of even the Tier 12 helmet was hardly bank breaking.

Matt still found it to be a head scratching choice, though.

No one in Melinda’s team even bothered to buy one of the high-priced items, and instead chose to shop at the other Pather stores for the much cheaper items.

While his oldest friends had re-forged themselves into a much stronger team, they flatly stated they didn’t really care about the Tier 10 tournament and were only there for the experience.

They were ready at any point to advance to the next Tier. The last decade had forced them to all grow up, even more than Matt felt he had.

Despite being over thirty, he still felt like the kid who had just left the PlayPen last week.

Melinda’s team had grown comfortable with their abilities, and their desire to stand on their own had morphed into a desire to be a force for good in the Empire. Participating in the Tier 10 tournament was just a step to get more experience and hone their skills.

Along with Kacy’s team and Felix, the five teams spent a few afternoons practicing for the group challenge, but they were all more focused on their personal training.

Matt was up to his elbows in enchanting talismans when he received a message that jolted him out of his trance, and he ruined the dozen talismans he was working on. With an endless supply of mana, he practiced a method of multi-enchanting that, while harder, let him increase his efficiency at the cost of more mana. The only downside was that it forced him into making only one type of talisman per round of enchantments.

But when he was startled, he lost everything.

Reading the message, he didn’t even care.

Eric and Dena were about to arrive.

Checking their reported arrival time, he still freaked out that he had less than a day to prepare.

As he ran around like a chicken with its head cut off, he was followed closely by Mara and Leon, who watched him curiously.

He had long since learned to ignore the inquisitive duo and raced to get everything ready.

Liz and Aster just watched in amusement as he ran himself into circles, but he was just too nervous to care.

He owed the duo everything he currently had, and wanted to make a good impression now that they were meeting without deception.

Liz’s second oldest sibling, Leah, was nice enough to actually help him pick out clothes that would be appropriate for the occasion, while Sam just laughed at his predicament. At Tier 40, Leah, was just starting to try and create her own Aspect so she could advance to the next realm.

She was an Independent, or sometimes called an Observer, and had taken a vow to leave all political ties behind her. It was rare to see anyone take the vow in the lower Tiers, but as one advanced, it apparently became more and more prevalent.

But none of the Great Powers were thrilled with having independents running around. Especially not ones with power similar to their own. While a Tier 50 could squish anyone below Tier 49 with a thought, they could only be in so many places at once.

And there were tens of thousands of Tier 44s who were trying to advance and find their Aspect.

The Great Powers kept that abundance of power in check by making them renounce their worldly affairs after a certain Tier if they didn’t want to join the official power structures. It didn’t mean that the cultivators couldn’t advance, but they had greater restrictions placed on them.

Leah had never bothered with the political portion of the Empire, so had no issues with the vow.

Once she found her Aspect, she would be expected to leave this realm as soon as she reached Tier 45.

As it stood, she had been stuck at her current Tier for the last thousand years and had taken up the hobby of a fashionista. With her help, Matt was able to outfit himself in a nice, but casual ensemble that was neutral enough to pass in even the humblest of establishments. It wasn’t so casual that he would be barred from more formal restaurants either.