The Path of Ascension 2: A LitRPG Adventure

10

It only took a moment for [Endurance] to settle down after the agitation caused by the manipulation, and he opened his eyes. When he pushed mana through the newly adjusted skill, he felt rejuvenated. All his aches and pains disappeared with a cool, refreshing wave.

The original skill was only good for muscle fatigue, as that was a subset of the cultivation aspect, Regeneration. The skill [Regeneration] could regrow limbs with enough mana, and when upgraded, wouldn’t cause strain on the body like normal healing spells but [Endurance] wasn’t nearly that strong even after their modifications.

Overhealth was amazing like that, and [Endurance] didn’t get that effect even when using an upgrade orb on it. Not that he had an upgrade orb to use.

That didn’t mean the modifications he had done were useless. When the skill was expanded upon like he and Liz had, [Endurance] bolstered the body’s natural healing. Meaning it was the best self-heal that was available at Tier 8. Traditional healing spells didn’t start dropping until Tier 14, after all, and were incredibly rare at that. This was still amazing, and with Matt keeping them full of mana, they could in theory go for days without sleep. It wasn’t recommended, but it could be done, giving them one extra tool in their toolbox.

Liz finally opened her eyes, and from her sitting position, lunged into a hug, knocking the napping fox off her lap.

“Ha! [Endurance] changed with my Talent into [Blood Endurance]. HA!”

From over her shoulder, he asked, “How can you figure out what that does?”

She let go and scooped up the fox and fell back on the bed, wrapping her up in another hug. “Uncle Manny had a message queued for me. I got a report of what it does from him. I get all the normal benefits from the expanded [Endurance], but it also boosts my blood regeneration through the roof.”

Matt was going to ask how she knew that but realized that the Emperor must have taken her Talent and tested many skills for compatibility issues.

“Did he test other skills?”

“Yup! He said he tested anything that could change and thought I would get my hands on. Apparently, some skills just won’t change at all, some will become non-functional, and there’s others that could actively harm me. He said that he updated my AI with preloaded messages for skills that will hurt me which is helpful.”

Matt was shocked. He understood that she grew up with the man, but him being able to do that meant he had absorbed each skill with Liz’s Talent active. He felt like the Emperor had to have had better things to do with his time.

Shaking away the thought, and with [Endurance] running at a small trickle, Matt felt ready to move.

Their train was about to reach their stop, and the three of them met up with Camilla where they found her shuffling around their common room. “I’m not sure how you want to handle rooms.”

Matt thought about it, but Liz just charged ahead. “We might as well just get a three-room suite. That way we can spend time together and get to know each other better.”

“We usually watch a movie or something most nights. It would be good if you join us. I also cook for us when we have time.” Matt added that last bit to try and get the clearly conflicted woman to agree.

“Okay. That…” she swallowed hard, “sounds nice I guess.”

As they exited the train, Matt probed Camilla for the first time with his spiritual sense. He found that she had a different type of false Concept.

Now that he had his own, he could feel Concepts in others, but it was one he hadn’t felt before. As much as he wanted to ask, he didn’t.

It was far too soon to ask, and he assumed that she had gotten something good from Duke Waters. It just felt like it was more real than the others he had felt.

Matt turned and said, “Well, I need to go see TrueMind. I’ll grab some fresh ingredients on the way back. Camilla, are you allergic to anything?”

With her no, Matt and Liz went to TrueMind, while Aster went with Camilla. Matt was slightly hesitant at letting his bond go with her, but Aster clearly wanted to, so he didn’t push.

Aster said that she smelled nice and therefore was a good person. Matt wasn’t sure that was how it worked, but he trusted her combat prowess.

He was more suspicious that the greedy fox was trying to get the new addition to the party to buy her ice cream.

Arriving at TrueMind, Matt was quickly escorted into the lab, and had his AI linked into their testing. They started with the usual mundane checks, but the techs were much nicer this time.

The man, Oliver, was chatting with Matt while the results came in.

Feeling much better about the environment, Matt asked, “So, why were the other Technicians at the last test tutting all over their pads?”

Oliver spun his pad and showed a screen with more data and charts than Matt could quickly read. “So, your AI is a rewrite of the older, original AIs.”

He peered at Matt and asked, “You know how AIs were made, right?”

“Not a clue. Someone smart?”

Oliver smirked. “No… Well yes. But also no. AIs are actually a Tier 26 rift reward. They were originally a skill like any other with the small addition that they were unique in being a channeled skill that had no real strain on the spirit of low Tier people. It was a huge advantage for rich people to give their kids. Still is, to be honest.”

Matt c****d an eyebrow at Liz, who was looking bored. She shook her head, so he made a note to ask her later.

“But they took the skill structure and made it simple. Simple enough that they could recreate it, but that came with losses. Do you know the saying, “Good, fast, or cheap. Pick two.”? Our AIs go fast and cheap. Yours is throwing cheap out the window and going for fast and well. But it’s not doing it well. Or…it is for its Tier, but it’s doing it in an extremely inefficient way. Sometimes it’s trying to get to step three by going from step one to step seven and doing calculus to get back down.”