The Path of Ascension 8: A LitRPG Adventure

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They just didn’t like living under the firm rules the Emperor was pushing for.

It was a new viewpoint for Matt. He hated nobles like the Adairs, who allowed even low-level corruption to run rampant. Marcus argued that it made things run smoother, but Matt disagreed mentally.

The rules applied to everyone, not just those who couldn’t afford the bribes.

Despite that, he found himself liking the duo, and the three of them spent most of their time with the pair.

With the ship packed as tight as it was, there was little they could do without arousing unwanted attention. Small elemental manipulations, skill modification, and reading for their respective crafting specialties made up a fair portion of the time they dedicated to real training. Long hours of meditation helped with Concept development, but the cramped ship was hardly an ideal location for it. Mostly, they tried to relax, watch movies, and listen to music.

At first, it was nice, but by the end of the first month, Matt was going stir-crazy from the lack of activity, as the ship didn’t even have a proper sparring room. When they finally reentered real space at The Citadel’s system, Matt was just happy to get off the ship with the others, who would be taking alternative transportation out of the system.

Marcus and Olivia would be returning with the Lydia to the outer reaches of the Empire once the Ascension ended, and therefore didn’t exit the ship.

While not being on the same planet would mean a slight reduction of efficiency from the Ascension, just being in the same system was generally good enough for most people, especially those like themselves, who already had a Concept.

Ascensions were useful for an Intent or Aspect, but it was like a cup of water being splashed into a pond. It might make some ripples, but one wouldn’t fill it, so they didn’t mind going to the Tier 44 capital world in The Citadel’s system.

Matt almost kissed the ground when they landed, but did allow himself a sigh in relief.

Luna, Kurt, and April appeared next to them as they exited the space port, and Luna asked, “How was your trip? Anything to report?”

Matt was pretty confident that she or Kurt had been there with them the entire time, but didn’t say anything. Along with Liz and Aster, he reported everything they did on the three month journey.

“Good. We still have three months until the start of the Ascension, and Ciceron should be here in a few weeks to set up for the next Tier 10 tournament.”

Liz smiled and asked, “Can we rent a rift then? Somewhere to let off some steam until then?”

Luna flicked her tail. “I don’t care what you do until then. Your parents are coming, aren’t they?”

Liz nodded. “Family dinner with everyone. I’ve missed a bunch, but they usually try for at least one a decade, or once every couple months when I was growing up.”

After getting the okay from Luna, the three of them took a teleporter to the city that housed the local Feathered Nestled Inn, the Moore family hotel chain. The two of them had both given them permission to use the family’s room or use a set aside room they had for all the kids.

The lobby had another one of Mara’s giant feathers floating overhead, and Matt could only shake his head. The feather was massive and served as a reminder that Mara wasn’t to be trifled with despite her generally goofy demeanor.

The suite was a carbon copy of the one on East Flower, Tur’stal’s capital planet, and they quickly put their belongings away before immediately turning around and leaving once more to find themselves a rift they could let loose in.

Thankfully, it wasn’t that hard.

Rusty’s capital planet, like Tur’stal’s, was home to trillions of people, and had every amenity one could think of, which included rifts.

As they walked around in the crowds, they looked up rifts in the Tier 14 through Tier 16 range that they could immediately buy out, and eventually settled on a nearby guild rift that was being offered at a reasonable rate. For the small price of a Tier 16 mana stone, they were able to enter the Tier 14 rift, which was an insane rip off, but they only wanted to let off steam. Which they gladly did as they massacred the monsters inside.

When they left the rift a few short hours later, they decided to explore some more, which was interesting. It was only Matt’s second time on a capital planet, but he found it amusing that this capital also reflected its owner’s personality.

East Flower, despite being a city, had a vibrant ecosystem that could be seen in the plants and trees seen everywhere, while Rusty’s capital planet was more utilitarian despite the city blocks dedicated to having green spaces for people to have access to.

Still, this particular planet had a martial atmosphere that pervaded everywhere they walked. The lower Tier guilds stylized themselves as martial halls instead of normal guilds, and in almost every park, they saw people working out or sparring with mundane melee skills, both unarmed and armed.

There were even beasts who fought each other in their own special rings.

Fighting was everywhere, even if controlled and orderly.

The only place they didn’t see people fighting was the old child’s playground, and even then, some of the roughhousing might have been considered martial practice.

The three of them, seeing that, found a park that catered to Tier 13s and joined in on the fun, sparring a few rounds with others and having a blast.

A little sweaty, they found a Tier 15 bar and settled in.

Matt laughed as Aster, three drinks in, finally caved and publicly asked for spicy food.

“I want the curry extra hot.”

Matt ribbed her. “What happened to not liking spicy things because a stupid fire fox liked it?”

Aster snorted. “This is my first time eating it.”

Matt rolled his eyes and sent her an image of the curry take-out container he had found in his trash.

Aster wasn’t even phased. “I said chili is gross. And it is! Curry is much better. Stupid fire fox doesn’t even know good food.”

Matt was taken aback by the spice wafting off the dish and looked on with horror as Aster destroyed the curry that was burning his nose from feet away. Even the man next to them at the bar slid down some laughing as he waved his hand in front of his nose.

As Liz and he ineffectually heckled Aster, he paused as a woman came up to him and placed her hand on his forearm.

Leaning forward, she asked over the music, “Can I buy you a drink?”

She paired the question with a wiggle that brought attention to herself and smiled.

Matt tried to be polite and wiggled his hand with his teleport ring. “Happily taken, but thank you.”