The Path of Ascension 6: A LitRPG Adventure

8

They wouldn’t be using the personalities or skill sets when inside Minkalla; they were only donning the masks to conceal their identities. If they weren’t wearing them, they would’ve just used the same ones they had on at dinner, but going as Quill and Torch would raise fewer questions.

The masks needed to be seen entering the moon, at the very least.

Matt and Liz were both surprised by the volume of people waiting to enter Minkalla. With the Empire hiding so much information until Tier 11, they had expected fewer participants. But as ships disgorged their passengers to leave, and were instantly replaced, the numbers added up. That most of them were Tier 13 or 14 made sense, he supposed, as it was when most of the valuable information actually became available. It was probably intentional on the government’s part if he was being honest.

Aster got to skip all of this, as she was technically being smuggled onto the moon, and Minkalla itself, but the pair had to stand in line like everyone else.

And the line was long. It took them nearly six hours to reach the front, where their identities were scanned and verified before they were allowed into a room with a number of others.

When the seats were full, a grizzled-looking old man walked onto the stage and pointed a finger above him, where an image was projected.

“Minkalla. A land of opportunity and hope. One can enter its steamy depths as a child and leave an adult. But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. This isn’t a briefing of what different things you can expect if you enter Minkalla, what fantastic treasures lie within its depths. This is a plea for you not to enter.”

No one had expected the old man to say that. He seemed the type to shove them into the fire and tell them to figure it out. Instead, his words had an honest ring to them that all of them felt.

“Please, turn away. If you leave now, the Empire will reimburse your travel expenses, and you can continue on living. If you change your mind at any point before you choose to enter Minkalla itself, that offer stands. Please take it. If you must, absolutely must go in, come back when you’re at the peak of Tier 14, and between cycles. Even for the older people out there. Just come back later and take it slow.”

The old man paused and looked around, but when no one moved in the auditorium, he slumped, and the image above him changed to one highlighting and labeling each of the moons circling Minkalla.

The image distorted Minkalla and each moon, making them seem more equal in size, but it served its purpose.

“If you are here, and don’t know what Minkalla is, I implore you to please leave and come back once you do. You are far too underprepared if you know nothing this close to the cycle. We don’t hide information if you’re Tier 13 or above, but the Empire still encourages you to avoid this place, even at that point. We and the other seven Great Powers each possess territory in this wasteland of death. Each of us send in our youth throughout the years, but between cycles, it’s not as dangerous. Do not misunderstand me, it’s still a deadly place, with one in ten delvers never returning, but it’s far, far better than at the start of a new cycle. Yes, the best rewards can only be found at this time, because the planet and its now greater population of monsters have been reinvigorated. But I can assure you…you will not leave with whatever spoils you recover. Come between cycles, after the glory-seekers are done and the Sects, Republic, and Federation have left. You’ll get almost as much, if not more than you’ll get now since you’re each four times less likely to die trying if you wait.

“Yes, it’s true that once you go in and come out, you can’t return, rejected just as surely as if you’re over Tier 15. But, and I will say this time and time again…Minkalla. Is. Not. Worth. Dying. For. For most of you, it doesn’t matter if you enter once or one hundred times. Most of you will die in your one and only delve. If you heed my warning, and venture into the depths between cycles…? Most of you will live. At least more of you will live.” A small lava lamp appeared over the image of Minkalla, and the man narrated what was happening. “You could think of a cycle in Minkalla as being like a lava lamp. After a while, the ‘lava’ inside gets out of sync, all of it falls to the heating rune to be warmed, and then it all rises at once. It’s not exactly what happens in Minkalla, but it’s close enough. We are currently about two months out from the next eruption, where all the floors will be filled and reset. When that happens, all of you poor souls will enter, and few will exit.” The old man paused as if waiting for someone to leave, but once again, no one did.

“As I said, the other Great Powers all send in their young, but there are elite ranks from each that you must be wary of. The Young Masters from the Sects, the Heroes from the Guilds, the Alphas from the Monsters Collective, the Slayers from the Federation, the Gladiators from the Republic, the Chosen from the Corporations, and the Knights from the Clans, along with the Ascenders from the Empire. They are all the leading prodigies of each Great Power, woe unto any of you who encounter them. If you do chance upon one of these elites, run away and let them have whatever they want. It’s not worth getting in their way. And yes, even watch out for your fellow delvers from the Empire. You shouldn’t kill each other, but nobody above Tier 15 can enter, or even see into the planet. We can’t stop you. No one can stop you. Just you, and whatever morality you have and hold onto. But the real danger for most of you will be the other average cultivators.”