The Path of Ascension 2: A LitRPG Adventure

15

Overall, Matt didn’t have a good first impression of the vassal kingdom and pitied anyone who was taking the option of subjecting themselves to the kingdom for land. He couldn’t think of anyone who would want to move out of the Empire proper to a place that allowed blatant discrimination and Tierism, but the place was packed with such fools.

Either way, they only had to remain in the city for two and a half weeks, so Matt just dealt with it.

They even tried to get access to the public rifts for a delve or two, but they had absurd prices for the Tier 5 rift. In the end, they just decided to just train in the sparring rooms they could reserve. The problem with that was, there were an extra few million people waiting in the city, and it made for a cramped atmosphere that stretched to kids of resources thin.

From what they saw, the higher Tiers actually had it worse, as the news of a Tier 20 world was far more unique than a Tier 6 world. The other two planets on the path to the Tier 20 world were even less impressive at Tier 3 and a weak Tier 4 that must have just recently advanced. Even with their lesser value they too had cultivators ready to brave the depths of their continents, seeking to find new rifts or the natural treasures that would surely be there.

The four of them mostly hung out for the last bit of time before their next teleporter would be ready. With Liz and Matt being on The Path, they would be one of the first groups out and that benefit was extended to Aster and Camilla as part of their group. It was a nice benefit, along with their exemption from the taxes that he heard more than one person complain about.

The four of them were sitting at an open-air cafe, snacking on pastries and day drinking with some local beers. It was mostly Matt and Liz chattering back and forth, with Camilla chiming in every now, and then with Aster trying to steal the croissant Matt had only half-eaten. Matt pretended not to see Aster and tried to include Camilla in the conversations. She had opened up quite a bit, but she was still a little quiet and reserved.

Matt wasn’t sure if that was her natural disposition, or something related to her past, but he tried to extend her invitations to chat and be a part of the group.

For all she had divulged to them, she never talked about her past or how she became the ward of Duke Waters and Matt wasn’t one to pick open a scab, so he let it lie. He had little room to throw stones as he still hadn’t opened the package of his parents’ memories. He knew better than most that some things were better left in the past.

While they were finishing up their pastries and debating if they wanted another round, Camilla leaped forward toward Matt, with her whip appearing in her left arm. She had a special spatial ring that was specially created to hold her weapons, as they were growth weapons, and expected to be using them long enough to justify the cost or a spatial ring for lower Tiers which allowed her to pull the weapon out of seemingly nowhere.

Matt hadn’t expected to be betrayed, but his instincts were faster than his mind, and [Cracked Phantom Armor] spring to life at her sudden movement. The skill appeared just in time to catch the blade that dug into his head. His jerk back from Camilla’s movement made the blade skitter along the front of his skull instead of piercing his temple.

Turning around, he lashed out, with [Mage’s Retreat] active at 10 MPS, and used his control of [Cracked Phantom Armor] to create spikes on the knuckles of his gauntlets. He punched out, but hit only air as the masked assassin was already trying to escape into the panicking crowd.

Camilla, having seen and reacted the fastest, was already moving toward the assassin, and wrapped her bladed whip around the fleeing enemy’s arm. Instead of the assassin being stopped, their light armor exploded in a small puff at the shoulder, and they continued to run off with their arm left in the ensnaring links of Camilla’s whip.

Liz, who had just had Aster climb onto her lap, was much slower to react and was just getting ready to charge after the man. Meanwhile, Camilla looked at the arm in her whip-like it was something she had never seen before.

Before Matt could do anything else, two people flew in from the sky with flashing lights, and sloppy, badly fitting uniforms. As they landed one called out, “Get on the ground now!”

Matt couldn’t believe they were apprehending them, the victims, and shouted, “The assassin went that way!”

Before he could fully point in the direction, a greater cultivation slammed down on him, and his spirit was slowed to a near stop. The unbelievable pressure forced all his skills to falter. Even his ever-spinning cores slowed, and he sank to his knees, unable to resist the power. They were at least Tier 18 or higher, as they felt stronger than Travis or Keith, but not as strong as Aunt Helen.

Matt tried to protest but was roughly shoved to the ground, and his hands were cuffed behind his back. His AI fussed for a moment before its normal functions returned.

From his vantage point, he was able to see Camilla’s whip yanked from her arm, and her now bloodied arms were being wrenched back as well.

“You are under arrest for unauthorized use of skills in a public setting. What do you say in your defense?”

Matt tried to gurgle something out, but the pressure from these two guards’ cultivation bases rendered him unable to speak. With [Cracked Phantom Armor] no longer keeping his wound sealed, blood pooled around his face.

Adding to the insult, he heard the same guard say, “Suspects have nothing to say in their defense. Guilty plea noted.”

His spatial bag was ripped from his back and, moments later, they were being flown away from the open-air cafe, and soon found themselves thrown in a holding cell.

They barely had time to get used to no longer being suppressed when their door opened, and Liz called out, “Don’t say a word without a lawyer!”

Matt was the first one pulled out, and he was shoved and shackled into a metal chair. Soon, a man came in and started questioning him.

The questions started stupidly and only devolved from there.

“Why were you using your skills in public?”

Matt knew they had to have surveillance footage, and even a cursory glance would show them there had been an attempt on his life.