The Path of Ascension 8: A LitRPG Adventure

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That sent the two of them, accompanied by Bella, one of Erin’s lovers, on a tangent for the rest of the afternoon as they browsed the Empire Market for suitable houses. Matt hadn’t expected there to actually be any like that for sale, but there were more than a dozen. The issue, as Alice said, was that the houses were all Tier 25 and above, and the Talent-made variable expansion often had some quirks to it.

Looking through the historical listings, there had been houses sold as low as Tier 15 with some limited form of variable sizing, but none had been sold for a few centuries.

Still, the three of them had a good time just trawling through the millions of listings.

That eventually came to a head when Liz plopped down on the couch with them and groaned. “Ugh, change the channel and don’t remind me. I still need to buy another growth item.”

Bella shrugged. “You know you don’t need to, right? Most people don’t have any, and you’re at what, three?”

Liz nodded and pulled out a bag of snacks. “I can’t pass up the power they can provide, not while I’m on the Path. But I want something good, not just some random pair of growth slippers.”

Bella shook her head. “I sure wouldn’t have been able to afford two growth items at your Tier. Hell, I don’t think I could afford that now, and you’re talking about getting a powerful growth item as your fourth. Isn’t The Path of Ascension supposed to be about making do with limited resources?”

“My resoufes are very limithed, I’ll have you know,” Liz shot back with a mouth full of chips, then swallowed. “They’re just limited to Tier 18 rifts.”

“What was that about Tier 18 rifts?” Keith asked, as he and Leah strolled in from the balcony, forcing Liz to recap the conversation so far.

Leah shrugged. “Well, what have you been looking at?”

Liz changed the screen to a view of the Empire Market. “I’ve been peeking in every so often for the last few weeks, but nothing is catching my eye. I’ve already got a weapon, so unless we find some kind of growth spearhead, there’s no need to look there. Growth armor is tricky enough to find something that’ll fit, and getting it adjusted would be a pain and a half. It was bad enough just finding a crafter who could drill a hole in a wooden rod without breaking it, I’m not going with full plate.”

“What about just one piece?” Alice asked, conjuring an illusion of a helmet that looked practically crafter-made over the table, “This one has an integrated HUD that’s projected to outperform the corresponding skill, and you could really use the information boost, little sis.”

Liz shook her head. “I don’t need a better [HUD]. My AI is doing a fine enough job there.”

Alice chuckled. “That’s what I said too until I got the skill. You really can’t know what you’re missing out on. Same with all supplementary skills to [AI].”

“Sure, sure. But more importantly, that clashes with my style so much. It would never work!”

That got a laugh, then Keith took over the screen projection. “Left-handed gauntlet that can absorb blood to boost physical cultivation?”

Liz shook her head, “No, I did see that one. But I’m not trying to directly replace my glove, and I already have enough demands on my blood, I don’t want yet another drain on it.”

“Oh here’s something! Chain mail!” Leah cast an illusion of a shirt of chain mail…made of long strings of actual chains, letting them drape down around the arms and base of the armor. “Gives control over chains you’re in contact with, and the shirt itself can unravel somewhat to give you a lot of chain to work with.”

Liz frowned. “Did you pull that up just to make that pun?”

Leah shrugged, earning herself a pillow to the face.

“Oh wow, [Force Armor],” Matt commented, and Liz looked over at him. “A bracelet that’s got proper [Force Armor] attached.”

[Force Armor] was a defensive skill on par with, or if Matt was being honest with himself, far better than [Cracked Phantom Armor], with a similar effect of a full-body suit of nigh-unbreakable armor. The main differences were that [Force Armor] was much, much higher Tier, a reserve skill, and was primarily focused on strictly physical, motion-based attacks, or elemental attacks that had mass. His own armor, at least with the amount of love that he had put into it, also protected against temperature extremes, could filter out toxic gasses, and could be repaired much more easily even not counting the second layer.

Was he being overly defensive of his oldest skill? Perhaps. But it had earned it.

“The mana cost hurts, though,” he noted, sending the entry to his girlfriend. She wrinkled her nose and nodded.

“Agreed. I can’t say I want to blow half my mana on a single ability for a single fight. How would a Tier 5 even afford that much?”

“Pre-charging,” Leah shrugged, “Didn’t you two have to do that with your teleportation rings? If anything, you’re the best to use it outside of some elite military units with basically unlimited mana budgets.”

“I suppose. But anyway, at the level we’re going at, how effective would it even be? It’s like having a single good skill, without any other reinforcement, and if it doesn’t protect me much from the punishment I’ll be taking then I just wasted a bunch of money.”

“Well what about a shield? This one can turn you invisible.” Leah asked.

“Why would you need a shield that can turn you invisible? If I were to go with a shield, I’d want something that’s at least specialized in blocking attacks, so I can actually use it as a shield. The one I got in Minkalla is great for that, it’s taken direct hits from Tier 18 monsters without even budging.”

They went back and forth for a few hours, continuing the conversation through dinner and breakfast. Practically everyone in the suite weighed in with their opinion at one point or another, looking at rings and breastplates, sandals and boots, cloaks and wands, ritual daggers and shields, amulets, and bracelets. Thousands upon thousands of items were considered and discarded, though a few of them were bought by some of Liz’s extended family.

In the end, they did find something for Liz, though debates were fierce toward the end.

The final item was a round shield, a full three feet in diameter and slightly convex, with the most potent defensive enchantment on the entire market. Practically anything which came into contact with the shield’s face would be nullified by a special void mana enchantment. Raw mana, force, and even unspirited matter were all either swallowed up or brought to a standstill. Then, depending on what was nullified, the shield empowered its wielder in different ways.

Mana created a force field around the welder’s body that could be expanded into a full sphere if desired, force provided a speed buff, and material was consumed to increase her inertia to reduce knockback or help with shield charges. All the effects would fall off quickly if the shield wasn’t fed, but in the midst of combat, it would serve to turn Liz into an unstoppable juggernaut.

The only problem with the shield was that it was insanely expensive, one of the most expensive items currently being sold on the entire market, and they had to move quickly before someone else decided to buy it. Still, while it took some scrambling and a hasty deal hammered out with the Seeker’s Guild to sell the compass they’d gotten in Minkalla, Torch was now the proud owner of a void shield. Or at least, she would be as soon as it arrived.