The Path of Ascension 8: A LitRPG Adventure

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Given Liz already had two of the steps done and was able to drink the blood of enemies she killed to empower her weapon thanks to Minkalla, pushing that part of her kit further could be quite promising. Helping her Concept reach outside of her body would help immensely with a lot of her current projects, even her unstructured blood magic. Allowing her spear to be boosted by all the things which enhanced her blood sounded quite appealing, though it wasn’t certain how much she would be able to do right out of the gate.

The more she thought about it, the more she liked it. Rather than a single ability or skill that she’d be growing, by pushing her Concept to be more external, she could use that as a stepping-stone to countless other abilities.

With a final nod, she made her choice and signaled Ciceron. “I’m ready.”

Matt looked at the nearly-familiar face of the Emperor and just stared.

The face was the same, but this Emmanuel seemed open and easy going, with a smile flirting with the edges of his mouth as if he was trying to repress the urge to crack a joke.

It was like seeing someone you didn’t know wearing the face of someone you did.

Emmanuel sauntered over and extended a hand. “Name’s Emmanuel, call me Manny.”

The grin turned into a full on smile as he laughed. “Ok I need to know. What can you tell me about the Empire? This is my first time being a legacy, and I have no idea how long it’s been. That you’re here means I’ve ascended, right? Was I a good Emperor? Are the people happy? Are we in any crises? Is my wife happy? Or no, she would have come with me, right?”

Emmanuel laughed and backed up, letting go of Matt’s hand. “Sorry. There are just too many things I want to know, and half of them I’d bet you have no idea on.”

Matt returned the easy smile and felt instantly at ease with this Emmanuel.

“The name’s Matt, and I can actually answer most of those questions. We are about two thousand years into your reign, and I’d like to think things are going really well.”

Manny let out a sigh and sagged back into a lounge chair that appeared along with an entire living room.

“That’s good to hear. But I need you to tell me everything, please. I’m dying to know what I’ve been up to. Frankly, I didn’t expect you to be coming in so soon. Usually, we wait to make a legacy until the person is about to ascend so as to make the legacy as complete as possible, but I was too excited, and didn’t want to wait.”

Matt had to resist the urge to smile imagining the man’s face after he told him his Talent.

“Well, I was apparently recommended for this legacy by someone who I suspect to be yourself. And it’s probably because of my Talent.”

Manny leaned forward, and the lighthearted joy hardened on his face, which made him a dead ringer to the Emmanuel Matt knew in the real world.

“Oh? I’m interested. Don’t hold out on me.”

Matt let his smile grow. “It’s nothing much, but as a Tier 13, I regenerate more mana than a typical Tier 50 mage.”

Manny didn’t move for a long moment before blinking and looking down, then slapping his hand on his thigh. “I can’t do that in here. s**t! Ummm. Okay, you have my attention, but I’m dying of curiosity. Tell me everything.”

As Matt finished explaining his Talent, Manny leaned back and sighed. “I’m so jealous of my other self. I’d love to get my hands on your Talent. There are so many things I could do with that much mana.”

Matt was about to say something when Manny leaned forward with a serious expression on his face. “The me on the outside is taking care of you, right? If he’s not, tell him I said he needs to remember what we wanted to do before we took the throne. We wanted to make the Empire a better place. We are better than our dad.”

Matt laughed. “He’s taking good care of me. Or, you are taking good care of me?” Shrugging, Matt brushed over the issue of talking to a legacy of someone. “Either way, I’m well taken care of. I will say, I’m glad that you are the Emperor rather than your father. While it might not be fair to compare the two when I was in the Folded Reflection, your dad was the Emperor and happily kept me locked in a box to make mana.”

Manny sighed. “Sorry. I’d like to say Minkalla lied, but dad was always a big picture guy. If one person had to suffer to make everyone else’s lives better, he’d happily make that choice for them.”

Shaking himself like a dog, Manny continued. “But you went into Minkalla. Tell me all about that! Let’s see if your run was as good as mine.”

With the easy smile, Matt understood how Emmanuel had become the heir to the Empire. Even without his Talent, the man was charismatic and knew how to get people to open up.

“Well, Liz and my bond Aster went in with another solo Pather named Susanne, and we came out as Tier 11s, so I’d think we did pretty good.”

Manny smiled then smirked. “I also went in as a solo Tier 11 and got the flexible innate skill slot. I love that thing. Fantastic ability, don’t you think?” As Matt agreed, Manny grinned. “So who’s Liz? Is she your girlfriend?”

Matt laughed. “She’s also your niece. That’s how I met you outside.”

Manny almost fell out of the chair as he clutched his heart. “I have a niece, and I never met her. I’m devastated. Who had the kid? I can’t think of anyone who was planning to use Liz as a name.”

“Elizabeth, but yeah. She’s Mara and Leon’s youngest daughter.” Matt paused and thought back to what Alice had said about Erin being born when the couple were already royals.

“She’s their seventh child now also. Sam, Leah, Alice, Daniel, Erin, Travis, and finally, Liz.”

Manny recoiled like he had been struck on the nose. “Seven kids? What are they eating over there? Carissa and I tried for close to a decade after we reached Tier 40 before giving up on it happening without an elixir or something.”

Matt was about to say something when Manny shook his head. “Seven though. Man, that’s so many.” Side eying Matt, he said, “I’m surprised, but not too surprised. Mara was a Flame Sparrow, and that bloodline is known to be more fertile than most, much like other prey bloodlines. Wouldn’t have thought that persisted once she was a phoenix. Still, three kids in less than seven thousand years is probably some kind of record post Tier 35.”