The Path of Ascension 8: A LitRPG Adventure

59

Liz took her spear out of spatial storage with a twirl, then held it balanced on her palm as she slowly encased it in blood. The blood then seeped into the spear, turning the dark wood a shade of deep red, and from a brief and painful pulse of [Metal Manipulation], Matt could tell she had managed to include Blood Iron into it as well. She then went through a brief demonstration, making a series of blood spikes erupt from the tip of the spear, turning the tip green with caustic blood mana to eat through defenses, and igniting it in a brief but intense burst of flame.

“There’s more, but I can’t display all of it now. Definitely need a nap first, and then some monsters to really demonstrate on. Suffice it to say that I could drop a building on it without so much as a crack, and I can make it repair itself, even then. Matt, I’d like to commission a flying spear, when you’re feeling up to it. Practical Concept flight is still a bit beyond me, but it’s closer than ever.”

Luna sounded quite pleased as she said, “Excellent, excellent. We can go over the specifics later and see how well you can leverage this for your other pursuits. Blood alchemy is the next step, and we’ll need to see about hiring someone with a spear Concept to train you with flight. Making an approximation of a weapon Concept must have been quite the task, but it’s nothing less than I’ve come to expect from you.”

As she and Luna chatted, Matt focused on Aster, who he felt waking up. When she appeared, she was limping and obviously in pain from the Legacy.

“That was less than fun. I’ll take training the normal way from now on.”

Reaching them, Aster sniffed at the tea. “Oh that smells really good. What is it?”

Luna shook her head. “A Tier 40 tea that you physically can’t appreciate yet. How was your Legacy?”

Aster shrugged even as she hopped onto the couch between Matt and Liz. “Productive. I focused primarily on [Dispelling Wind] but pushed more toward making it a large-area disruption. I was first thinking about making it a feedback loop, of using the mana of whatever it disrupted to strengthen the dispelling, but Aspen made me realize I’m better off just weakening every spell instead of eliminating one.”

Saying that, Aster stretched until her legs trembled. “I need a massage, though. I hurt all over.”

Luna swished her tail as she stood from her book, which along with her tea, vanished. “Back to the hotel, then. We’re a month out from the Ascension and tournament start, and while that may help your spiritual strain some, you’ll need to be in good shape if you’re to get the most use out of it.”

As a portal opened in the air, Matt looked to Liz, who met his gaze and spoke up. “Aren’t you going to say goodbye to Ciceron?”

Aster then jerked. “Oh yeah, that reminds me. I got our stuff back from Ciceron. Said thanks for the opportunity to study them, but he’d gotten what he needed from them.”

Luna flicked her tail in what Matt could only read as dismissal. “Ciceron is quite busy with his research and won’t miss us. He’s got his new toys and they’ll keep him busy until he can’t ignore other legacy requests anymore. The best thing we can do for him is to leave him to it.”

Matt shrugged but followed their manager through the [Portal]. It wasn’t his place to meddle in their relationship, but he couldn’t help but feel that telling someone the best thing they could do was be left alone was very much a cat thing.

As they reentered the suite, they were surprised to feel Travis and Keith sitting on the couch, watching a movie together. They seemed just as surprised, jumping up and rushing over to give them hugs.

As they sat down, Travis looked over the three of them and shook his head. “I can’t believe it, but damn! Baby sis, you aren’t even fifty yet and are already Tier 13. This hurts…”

Keith grinned as he scratched Aster’s chin. “We’re not even all the way through Tier 17, after thirty years. You’re getting close to catching up with us.”

Aster, who was leaning into the scratches, yipped, “That’s ‘cause we are the best!” Perking up, she spun around and said, “Oh we didn’t get to tell you about our Minkalla run in person! We were so impressive!”

That brought them to a long rendition of their time in Minkalla while they relaxed together before going out to a restaurant that catered to Tier 15s to continue their conversation.

A few bottles of wine later, the five of them tipsily sauntered back to the shared room, where they intended to settle down for a night of watching bad movies and eating snacks, just to be surprised by Sam and his wife, Annie, who they hadn’t met yet.

Sam threw his hands up as they walked in the door. “You go out for dinner and don’t even leave a note of where you went?” His smile cut any sting that might have accompanied the rebuke as they all sat down together in the living room.

Sam was at least nice enough to introduce his wife Annie to Matt and Aster, who were the only ones to have not met her yet, as she was busy during the last time they met up.

Sam punched Liz’s shoulder as they sat down. “Happy almost fiftieth birthday Liz.” Sighing, he grinned and continued, “I remember when I turned fifty. I was Tier 8, maybe Tier 9, at the time, and thought I was hot s**t. But look at you! A good portion of the way through Tier 13 and well ahead of where you need to be on The Path.”

As Liz preened under the praise, Annie laughed and asked, “So, any plans for when you three finish?”

Matt looked at her with a raised eyebrow, as he didn’t quite know what she was implying. It’s not like they really had a choice in what they did once they finished The Path.

Sam fell back with a groan. “No work talk.”

His wife ignored him. “You most certainly won’t get a choice at Tier 25, but when you reach Tier 35, you’ll have some flexibility in your assignment, and that’s where I’m in charge of special forces. I have a few units that you would fit perfectly in.”

Before she could go on, Sam lunged and covered her mouth before quickly jerking his hand away and wiping it on his pants with a grumbled, “No need to lick...”

Annie shook her head. “As much as I want to abuse your abilities, it’s a long way out, and we have no actual expectation you will be placed under my command. There are two other special forces generals that you could get shuffled under.”