The Path of Ascension 2: A LitRPG Adventure

6

It all seemed like a cluster of unnecessarily complicated rules to Matt, but the Empire had been doing this for much longer than he could comprehend so he assumed they had things mostly figured out.

It just surprised him that each of Liz’s parents ruled over hundreds, possibly thousands of planets, and soon a new royal would be raised that could eventually reach similar heights.

When he asked why their parents were still ruling instead of ascending, he found out that their oldest sibling had joined the Empire’s standing army when he had hit Tier 15. Mara and Leon were unwilling to let their child be at the whims of others and inserted themselves into the political structure to watch over their firstborn.

It fit with what he knew of the over-excitable couple.

But before they could reach the train station Liz jerked as if she had been poked. “I just got a message from Uncle Waters.”

It took Matt a second to parse who she meant by ‘Uncle Waters’ but learning that Duke Waters was calling them, or rather he was calling Liz, was disconcerting.

Matt immediately started to clean up his appearance. They were in a private cab but that didn’t change the fact he was dressed for travel, and Aster was still unconscious. He was meeting a hero for the first time, and this was not how he wanted it to play out.

Liz thankfully came to his rescue. “It’s a prerecorded message. Deep breaths and calm down. He’s just like everyone else.”

She was blatantly wrong, of course, but he didn’t get a chance to respond as she started to play the video.

Duke Waters had blue hair that seemed to drift in the air as if it was underwater, but what really caught Matt’s attention were the green-blue eyes. He had seen the man’s likeness in movies and shows but seeing the real thing put all those images to shame. It was like the man had a sea kept behind his eyes.

The legend smiled as he started to speak, “Hey, BethBeth, I hear that you got your Concept. Congratulations, that’s always a fun one. Try and keep up with my pace if you want to make things really interesting.”

His smile slipped a little as he paused for a second before saying. “While that’s a big deal it’s not what I’m calling about. I need you to do me a favor. I sort of picked up a little bird, and she’s trying to leave the nest earlier than I really think is good for her. Part of the deal I made with her was that she needed to join someone I trust and who is near her Tier if she wanted to go out without a high Tier bodyguard and…well…”

He trailed off as if hoping Liz could fill in the gaps. Which she did. “And I’m the only one you know.”

Duke Waters matched Liz nearly word for word as his recording started to speak again. “And you are the only Tier 5 I know who is competent and trustworthy.”

He shot her a thousand mana smile and continued. “If you could just let her tag along with your group for the expedition for a short time, I’d owe you one, same with your teammate. It’s also okay with the rules of The Path as she’s a touch weaker than you, and so long as you keep your finances separate. Please?” After his question, the legend nodded as if all was settled. “Perfect, I already changed your train reservation and got you guys a three-person private car. Thanks a bunch, and be nice to Cammie.”

With that, the recording abruptly ended, and he and Liz were left to look at each other.

Matt was more shocked, but Liz seemed pissed, which surprised him.

Reaching out she pretended to choke the air. “He knows I hate when my parents meddle in my life and there he goes and does it himself. He should have asked before foisting someone off on us.”

As much as Matt understood her point, he wasn’t able to agree.

Duke Waters had asked them for help, and anyone he vouched for couldn’t be a bad person.

Right?

He was excited to see what type of person this Cammie was. This was Duke Waters after all. The hero of the Empire, the first Ascender in thousands of years, capable of smacking around people three, four Tiers above him? It was unimaginable what he could do, what sort of person could possibly catch his eye? Some new protégé? Well, she couldn’t possibly be quite as good as him, not if she was a bit weaker than them.

Unless she was Tier 4?

Liz calmed down enough before the end of her ride to say that this was out of character for Duke Waters, but she would try to go in with an open mind.

Matt just wanted to get settled in for the four-day train ride to their connection teleport. Because once they did, he had his new [Endurance] skill shard ready to be absorbed, stored in his new, much larger spatial backpack. Before they packed, he had upgraded from his old Tier 3 that was the size of a tub, to his new Tier 5 bag that was roughly the size of a walk-in closet. He actually had so much room now, his belongings now seemed lonely in the corner.

The jump from three cubic feet to two hundred cubic feet felt good. It was tangible proof of his progress.

Aunt Helen had ensured that they were ready for expanding [Endurance] personally. She made him and Liz practice with the training device in front of her five times before she was satisfied. Only after that did she give them a package that she had apparently swiped from the courier that contained their preselected Tier 5 rewards without them knowing. Personally, he thought it was nice to see that the older Phoenix cared about him enough to ensure he was safe and careful with his precious pseudo healing skill.

Matt couldn’t think of anything he could get the older woman that she didn’t already have, but he wanted to give her something nice as a thank you for all that she’d done for him. What surprised him was that he didn’t feel that way out of obligation. He just wanted to return her kindness. She was like a mother figure, the likes of which he couldn’t really remember having but, in the end, he was only able to give her a heartfelt thanks which she seemed pleased to receive.