The Path of Ascension 8: A LitRPG Adventure

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Liz caught the staff and gave it an experimental, though gentle, twirl. After a quick examination, she set the Tier 5 item down gingerly on the table in front of them.

“We can find a crafter who specializes in riftcraft items to install a spearhead, by my reckoning, and while the spearhead wouldn’t benefit from any growth item benefits, it wouldn’t damage the staff either. A good enough crafter may even be able to set it up so that Matt could upgrade the spearhead each Tier.” April waited for Liz to nod before explaining further. “As for the enchantment on it…it will let you utilize any level 1 mana type with any other elemental manipulation spell. There’s a bit more to it, of course, but that’s the gist of it.”

Matt raised an eyebrow. For most people, it represented a substantial boost to their versatility, functionally quadrupling the number of skills they had access to in their inner and core spirit. Whether elemental Talents and Concepts would apply to the end result depended on the specifics of the staff and the person, but generally, they’d benefit from any effects that happened at-cast. A mana discount or power boost were two easy examples, but anything that required ongoing connection would be lost, such as Concept reinforcement. For Liz, it would be even better. As she was forced to leave any non-blood skills in her outer spirit at all times, they were incredibly slow to modify, and extremely expensive and slow to cast. That she’d made it through the Tier 10 tournament predominantly using outer spirit skills was a testament to just how good she was.

Liz’s face lit up alongside him, but then almost immediately, she wilted slightly as she looked at Luna. “Is this a step in the wrong direction?”

Luna c****d her head at Liz but said nothing, which prompted Liz to continue. “We’ve been going over what I learned in my reflection lives and have been planning how to allow me to not be just a ‘red water mage’. This almost feels like a step backward from that plan.”

Matt swore he saw Luna smirk as she lifted a rear paw and started to groom herself. “What are the pros and cons?”

Liz took a deep breath before letting it out slowly. “Okay, pros first. I can use it to control fire with my [Blood Manipulation], upgraded and acting as my innate skill. It’s a substantial boost in power compared to my existing fire magic. I⁠—”

April interrupted. “Remember, the staff is currently Tier 5 and has been appraised to have an effective fifty percent conversion rate. By Tier 25, when it gains a new ability, it’s projected to be around a hundred percent efficient. When we bring it up to Tier 12 or so, it’ll probably be seventy five percent efficient.”

Liz nodded to show she heard and understood April as she continued. “Regardless, in addition to just the benefit to Torch, it will give me a substantial versatility bonus. Expanding my blood skills to air, earth, fire, and water will help me with some wider scale powers—a pseudo [Earth Tidal Wave] would be great, if I can throw enough stone around. Then, even though it wouldn’t be as efficient, I can get some level of control over elements like lava by manipulating the earth part. Then, more practice with [Blood Manipulation] controlling different elements will give me more varied practice with that skill, helping my natural modifications and skill and continuing out to everything I use it for.”

Liz gestured with her free hand as she continued. “On the other hand, I still don’t know how much I want to be a blood mage, or how much I want to just be a red water mage, but this staff is very much a tool for the latter. And I don’t know if this would push me to being nothing more than that. I’m not happy with my other selves, nor the blood mages before me, but do I want to ignore such a massive pool of power for me to draw on? This staff, it would be so useful, but would it just be a crutch?”

Luna walked through the air as if she was still on the table and then around Liz, inspecting her.

“My, my, my, who are you, and what have you done with Liz?” Her voice dripped sarcasm like honey. “But I’m glad you recognize the issue.”

Matt—and judging from her expression, Liz—thought Luna would tell her to sell the staff, but her next words surprised them both.

“My advice? Keep the staff, sell off some of your extra houses and other things you kept, maybe make a few rifts, and sell another few buckets of skills on the empire market. Find a growth item you like on it, buy that, and bond to it if you three can’t manage to make a growth item rift to replace the glove. Four growth items should be safe enough for you. Because yes, this is a very good item for you. Just like you shouldn’t ignore the rest of your blood magic, you shouldn’t ignore your pyromancy. Not just because of Torch, but because it plays to your strengths and will provide, if nothing else, tremendous benefit to your ability to fight off other elemental specialists. It will also enable you to better utilize water magic directly, and getting some additional practice with wind certainly won’t go awry as a phoenix. The defensive capabilities of earth magic are nothing to scoff at either. Tools shouldn’t become crutches but they are power amplifiers, nonetheless, and should be used as such.”

Aster, on the other hand, didn’t seem surprised in the slightest, and just seemed smug through their bond.

Kurt’s pen rose up and started writing, catching all of their attention. “I’m no appraiser, but I’ve seen a wand with a nearly identical growth effect when I was in the army. When the wielder increased it to Tier 25, it became further capable of controlling level 2 elements. If this one follows the same trend, it would further increase the element of surprise, but even if it doesn’t, I doubt it’s a bad choice for you.”

Liz nodded, clearly thinking of possible items she could use. It was a fairly expensive gamble, but it was hardly like they couldn’t afford it. There were only so many more skills that they could even use, only so many natural treasures worth hunting for.

Then her nod became a bit shakier, and she snatched Matt’s hand, squeezing as hard as she could. Matt gave an encouraging squeeze back, and Liz’s breath became slightly ragged. Her eyes were fixed on the dark wooden rod in front of them, and the magic subtly coiling around it.