The Path of Ascension 6: A LitRPG Adventure

45

They didn’t relax completely, of course, but the house had barriers stronger than even Matt’s [Bulwark], and a few million mana to power it held in reserve. Even the beam attack from the monkey wouldn’t make a noticeable dent in the reserves, if it even overcame Matt’s charging of the enchantment.

Still, they weren’t crazy, and they kept up a watch even as they took turns showering and then napping. A part of Matt itched to start sketching out an integration for a cloaking enchantment into the house’s defenses, but he put that off to the side, contenting himself with whipping up a small meal for the four of them during his watch instead.

Working in and caring for the house just felt so satisfying to Matt. It was the first place that he’d really had that was properly his, and he relished being able to just…work on things, and slowly make the house feel better to the three of them. Finding a problem and solving it, like he had with the kitchen, and getting it set up in just the right way just felt…right. Tweaking the lighting enchantments to let them emit any color of light, helping Liz get her alchemy room adjusted for her blood alchemy extraction apparatus, and helping Aster get a cold water jacuzzi set up that empowered her winter abilities were all interesting problem-solving activities he enjoyed the challenge of.

It was just fun to work on their house.

From the cleaning enchantments he’d engraved into the knife-block, to the exact order of oil and vinegar bottles by the stove, it was all just the way he wanted it. His room at the orphanage hadn’t been bad, but it also wasn’t his. Same with his lodging at Benny’s, or the PlayPen. Whenever they were delving, they either ended up camping or staying in someone else’s place. But their house, for all that it usually ended up being set up on Luna’s front lawn, was his, and he loved it.

The food turned out bland, even only able to cook with his spiritual perception Matt was an excellent cook who wouldn’t let something as simple as a complete lack of normal telltale signs ruin his food. Once the others woke up, they all sat around and enjoyed some nice, hot tomato-basil soup and fresh bread, perfect for soothing the soul—literally, in Matt’s case. If they could have tasted the meal it would have been better, but it was nice to go through the motions nonetheless.

With a full three hours of sleep and a small meal out of the way, they packed up, the house’s recall only slightly more painful than normal, and set their sights on the hole in the ground.

In Minkalla, deeper was always better.

8

Minkalla didn’t try to restrict their flight as they descended into the hole, and Matt was grateful for it. The last hole they found had a no flying restriction and spikes at the bottom, after all. Still, as they descended, they stayed near the wall just in case they needed to grab on in a hurry.

The hole did send a mass of nearly invisible bats at them like a swarm of locusts, but Matt easily took care of them with [Flamethrower] and [Fire Manipulation]. The Genesis Energy he got was a pittance, but it seemed to be more of a check of their ability to sense the monsters rather than a concentrated attack from the hostile planet.

When they reached the bottom of the hole, they found a pair of pyramids on the ceiling and floor, like a pair of stalactites and stalagmites. The tips of the pyramids seemed connected by two hands of Genesis Energy that gripped each other as if one of them was preventing the other from falling. The reason why became apparent as the top pyramid started to draw them in, with gravity warping and inverting before placing them at the foot of the pyramid.

As they came to a halt, Matt found that his flight ability was completely locked down once again.

Liz sighed over their AI comms. “Well, we aren’t flying out of this place. Let’s see what this cavern looks like. Aster, you’re with Matt…let’s circle the pyramid and see what we can find. Hopefully, some other way out.”

Aster scampered into Matt’s shoulder and laid herself down, facing away from the pyramid and the empty space to their left. Without their eyes working because of the floor restriction, it didn’t matter how she situated herself, but they had trained with her keeping her attention on their perimeter, and that was an easy habit to fall into.

The trip around the pyramid told them exactly nothing. There were no entrances, and nothing that seemed to be interactable along its edge. All they could sense in the surroundings were the flat rocks that made up the cavern’s ceiling, so they just moved along without stopping.

Once they completed their half of the trip, they waited about two minutes for Liz and Susanne to make their way around the corner.

When they did, the four of them reconnected with their AI, and Aster was able to ask, “What did you guys find?”

Liz, who just stepped into range of his spiritual perception, stopped at the corner and said, “The entrance. Or what we believe is the entrance.”

Matt jogged over and followed them to where he could see a black, seemingly endless hole in the bottom of the large stone that made up the pyramid.

It felt ominous and wrong somehow, but he couldn’t put a finger on exactly what the problem was. Minkalla was keeping him from looking beyond the surface, but that only indicated that it was hiding something. Something he wasn’t eager to find with his face. Susanne asked, “You feel it as well, right?”

Matt and Aster nodded in unison. “Yes, and I don’t like it. Do we try to bypass it?”

Liz looked from the hole and back to Matt. “If we could. Go ahead and try to climb the stone.”

Aster remained in place as he walked over the ten-foot-tall brick of stone, and in a small leap, jumped to the top of the first layer.

Except when his feet landed, they were on the ground once again.

Matt looked to Aster, and while he couldn’t feel it, he could see her snuggle deeper into his neck. That had been unsettling.

He had felt himself jump, but when his feet had been about to touch the stone, reality had warped around them so subtly, they hadn’t noticed it initially, and it sent them back to their original position.

“Okay, so climbing is out of the question. I don’t like this door. We’re clearly in a puzzle area, which means stepping into this first entrance would be suicide.”