The Path of Ascension 8: A LitRPG Adventure

45

Matt wasn’t able to ponder the idea for too long as they quickly arrived at the city, and the first thing they did was stop by a governmental building to register for a spot to The Citadel.

It was annoying that they needed to do it in person, but it was the rule the Adair family had set up. Their stated reason was enhanced security, but that was bullshit, and everyone knew it. He was sure it was truly to drive more traffic to the city and its amenities more than anything else. AI signatures could be faked, but it was hard enough that almost no one bothered for small things like this.

When they finally got to the front of the line, Matt nearly swore at the man sitting behind the desk.

“Standard fare for a Tier 15 in the vacuum of a cargo hold is a Tier 16 mana stone. A place with a breathable atmosphere will cost a Tier 17 mana stone per person. A bunk in a room with five other people is a Tier 18 mana stone, and finally, a private room is a Tier 25 mana stone. No exceptions. No negotiations.”

The man’s bored tone suggested he had both explained this and dealt with the expected reactions for days, and a probe at his cultivation showed he was Tier 16, and very well could have been working here since the news was spread.

Despite their wealth in items, they didn’t have any Tier 19 mana stones, though they did have seven Tier 18 stones from their successful delve of the rift yesterday. So while they could afford it, things would be cramped and uncomfortable.

Liz opened her mouth to speak, but the man behind the desk flicked a finger at them, and their AIs notified them of a packet of information being sent their way. As Matt scanned it, he was half-tempted to find the noble of this place and punch them in the nose.

They were offering credit to anyone who couldn’t afford the initial cost of the ticket for the small fee of thirty five percent interest…compounded every decade from when they left for The Citadel. For the slow, methodical delving rate of most Tier 14 teams struggling to reach Tier 15, or even those who had reached Tier 15 or higher, this was a serious debt that they would struggle to pay back in a reasonable time frame.

Matt almost laughed in anger as he realized that it was even worse for those under Tier 15 who still needed to do mortal things, like breathe, as they would need to pay for the much more expensive tickets.

This was pure, shameless extortion.

Flipping through his lessons with Luna, Kurt, and April, he understood the reasoning the Adair’s were using to get away with such a high initial cost and high percentage on the loan. The transfer to The Citadel wasn’t compulsory, and they also had the option of using the teleporters, buying their own ship, or even renting space in someone else’s ship.

All things Matt noticed were available with a quick AI search of the PlanetNet.

The prices for the non-noble backed ships were cheaper, in some cases suspiciously cheap, but there was a variable of risk there. While the transfer would be registered by the local AIs, there wasn’t anything stopping someone from robbing you in chaotic space and simply saying there were bandits or something that intercepted them, no matter how unlikely that was.

After a brief conversation, they decided they would pay for the bunks in a shared room.

The man almost tried to charge them for a bunk for Aster, but seeing her small size and understanding she could share a bunk with Liz without issue, he relented and only charged them for an atmosphere ticket for her, saving them a bit of money.

April hadn’t interfered with the purchase, and Liz asked as soon as they left the building, “Should we have bargained harder? Gone somewhere else? Punched him in the face?”

The last comment earned a snort from April. “The last would have been a bad idea no matter how good it would have felt, and for the rest, it’s up to you. It might have been worth your time to shop around and talk to the others with ships. This system has a lot of traffic that will most likely be moving toward The Citadel in the next few years, but those choices would have either gotten you there a year or more early or cut it so close you wouldn’t have wanted to risk it. And there is always the risk of bandits, even if it’s very rare. With so many ships moving toward The Citadel, it’s easier than ever to pick off a smaller ship or two.”

April shrugged as she finished. “I think it was a fine choice to take the Adair ship.”

Matt pursed his lips, wanting to find some way to refute her, but ended up coming up empty. While he was pretty sure the Adair family and the ship were acting as pirates themselves, clearly taking advantage of everyone, he couldn’t discount the fact that they might not be making as much money as he believed.

He had no idea of the actual margins of shipping high Tier foodstuffs over long distances but knew from his Folded Reflections life as both a guild leader and chef that high Tier food was expensive to buy, and even more to sell. As a chef, he had seen the paper thin margins most restaurants operated at for most of their meals.

Thinking back to the prices, he still doubted it.

Unless the foodstuffs were being thrown away, they could be sold at their destination to make up most of the cost. Knowing there was nothing he could do, Matt decided to ignore it and hope not many people took the Adair’s extortionist loans, though he knew some would be forced to do so.

Once they finished up there, April left them to do her own thing after dropping them off at the hotel they had rented. They splurged and bought a nicer room, but not a suite, as they didn’t intend to spend too much time in their room on this trip.

Instead, they immediately went to an art gallery they had been looking at that promised a psychedelic adventure through color and sound. It was put together by a local Tier 17 artist with a modicum of fame.

Matt felt the world spinning as he stumbled out of the end of the hallway while Liz laughed.

“Don’t be a baby. It wasn’t that bad.”

Aster, who was covering her eyes with her paws, groaned, “That was awful. How can you enjoy that?”

Matt nodded, even if he knew it wasn’t an entirely fair complaint. Part of the issue was that both he and Aster had an adverse reaction, and through their bond, that reaction had fed off the other’s, and they hadn’t recognized it as such until it was too late.

Liz looked like she had just taken a stimulant and bounced on her feet. “Come on! Next up is the motion statues exhibit, and it seems less mind bendy.”

Matt and Aster were both grateful that it was much easier on their stomachs, and all three of them were able to enjoy their walkthrough of the varied statues that told stories through their slow movements.

But undeniably, their favorite was the Exhibit of Rift Monsters, which was amusing to walk through and read the comments given by the artist.

Aster snickered. “Ah, yes, the shadow ape. A formidable opponent only to be challenged by those a Tier up or with a direct counter.”

She snorted at the end, and Matt had to bite his lip to resist laughing though Liz joined his bond without hesitation.

“I don’t think we’ve fought anything in here at the recommended Tiers or with the strategies suggested. Are we bad delvers?”

She dramatically gasped, which made Matt lose it, and he joined in on the laughing.

It wasn’t actually funny but more so absurd how different their point of views were from the average person’s when it came to delving.

After they left the art gallery they moved toward another immortal attraction. While open to anyone with at least an AI implant, the game center’s main clientele were immortals. This was in large part thanks to their complete lack of true biological needs allowing them to do year- or even decade-long gaming sessions with no adverse health effects.