The Path of Ascension 5: A LitRPG Adventure

38

“This comes back to how my grandmother and father were able to enact large-scale societal changes in a mere sixty thousand years, because of the traditions of the Empire as a whole. It goes back to when the Empire was young and still took the name of the ruling family, right after the political unification wars when all the current Great Powers were forming. Our past rulers made sure to set a precedent of holding onto a greater portion of political power relative to the rulers of the other Great Powers. That has continued even today and has led us to our current problem.”

Matt leaned forward despite feeling like he was putting his head in a dragon’s maw.

The Emperor’s words were magnetic.

It wasn’t his eyes, but something in the way he spoke. There was an honest belief that came through in the way he spoke, and it pulled Matt in.

“Societal changes aren’t easy or fast. People don’t like change, and immortals less so. The other Great Powers need to buy time, in an attempt to catch up in the next few generations of rulers. We are already expanding faster than them, and if nothing else changes, we will be twice the size of the next largest two Great Powers in three or four generations of rulers. At that point, the others would be at our mercy.”

The Tier 50 flicked a finger, and in the air, like clouds, eight bubbles of uneven space appeared. Near the center, they all bordered each other, but they were all expanding outward in different directions away from the center. The display gave a visual to support the Emperor’s statement.

One of the bubbles with purple and gold colors expanded faster, and then swallowed the others once it encompassed its neighbors.

The Emperor’s next words were like falling hammers despite being perfectly mundane. “A position they do not wish to be in, I assure you.”

As he lowered his hand, the illusion faded, and he added, “To that end, this next war will be especially vicious. They can no longer deny our success and are scrambling to make up for the lost time. But their time is quickly running out if they wish to hold on to their power. The more damage they can do to us in this next war, the longer they have to enact similar changes in their own societies, and the better their odds to stay in the game. While I do believe this war will be far more dangerous than usual—unprecedentedly brutal, as one of my advisors put it—I don’t believe we’ll have a Tier 35 or higher war stemming from this. If you want to participate in this war, you need to understand how bad this will get.”

The Emperor recaptured Matt’s eyes as he said, “It will be dangerous enough that I feel the need to warn my niece about her current Path. That goes doubly so for someone with a Talent as valuable as yours, Matthew.”

Matt couldn’t help but scowl. It always seemed to come down to his Talent.

He felt like he could never escape the fact his Talent made people want to protect him for his own good.

The Emperor’s face split in a wide smile that felt a little predatory, and Matt was taken off guard as his words didn’t follow the path Matt expected.

“I won’t force you to step off the Path, Matt. But I will offer the options. They need to be said, if for no other reason than transparency and understanding between all parties.”

The Tier 50 leaned forward, and for the first time, Matt actually felt that the man in front of him wasn’t the Emperor of the Empire, or even a Tier 50. He was a concerned uncle and wanted what was best for his family.

Liz must have felt it as well, as her hand tightened around his own. Even Aster’s tail stopped its slow movements.

“As a concerned uncle, I would recommend that the three of you take the vow of non-interference and leave all the fighting behind. After that, I can have you left alone or rushed to Tier 24. Either way, you would be safe. I have more than enough power to guarantee that.”

At that, he nodded to Matt. “More ideally, at least for my own benefit, I would allow you to progress until you discover your Intent. It would be far easier for you if you are able to grow on your own, but once you have that, I can have you raised to Tier 48 in the shortest order. At that point, you would be one of the strongest people, and few could harm you. That would also give me access to your incredibly high mana generation, and with that, I would be able to ensure the protection of the Empire even without a combat Tier 50 Talent. That is the ideal outcome from my perspective.”

That brought the topic of conversation to Matt and his Talent. A place he was never fully comfortable with.

“Matt, with your Talent, you know you will be a great asset to anyone and everyone. But while your growth and future power are without question, the current issue is mana concentration. If you simply wish to be a generator of mana, it’s not even an issue. If you wish to be a powerful combatant, it will be a problem if not addressed by your Tier 25 Talent.”

At that, the Emperor narrowed his eyes, and Matt felt the world sharpen as the very air seemed to harden around him.

Even Mara and Leon, from their unusually silent positions on the other side of the table, joined the Emperor in staring at Matt.

The feeling only lasted an instant, but the Emperor continued after a confirming look with his two Tier 48 subordinates. They didn’t try to hide the negative shakes of their heads.

“None of us can get a clear vision of your spirit and its growth so far away from Tier 25 to even begin to guess if your Talent will solve this issue. But Aunt Helen is far older than us, and much better at reading the ways spirits grow. From her initial impression, she didn’t believe that your spirit would manifest in that direction, but we can hope things change as you advance and have her look. Even so—”

The Tier 50 took a long breath that he held for a minute before continuing.

“Even so, this is an issue that I believe I have a solution for. Or at least, I’m working on one that I have high hopes will pan out. But I don’t want to speak too much about it until I have more definitive results. Either way, I will be providing mana concentration potions as most of your personal rewards for reaching The Path’s goals going forward. It’s a stop gap solution, but the best I could have done, even if you fell off The Path today. I believe the math says that at Tier 19 you will need to use Tier 49 potions that don’t even exist to fully condense your mana concentration. Even if I’m unsuccessful with my first plan, I am working to purchase all the highest Tier mana concentration potions that exist. You can still use them, even if they aren’t enough to fully condense your mana to near zero.”