The Path of Ascension

Chapter 307

Alice reminded Aster of Luna in many of the cats best ways. Matt claimed to not understand why Aster, who had certainly chafed under the yoke of their ever-strict manager more than either him or Liz had, would want to run all of her business in this realm through someone so similar. But to her, it was perfectly obvious. For one, she was the boss in this dynamic, and as such, she could offload all serious-ness to her underling.

It was a simple delegation. Mara had taught her that.

As a bonus, as a fellow arctic-bloodline, she properly understood the value of ice cream. The fact that she liked her ice cream hot made Aster feel quite conflicted, but she supposed a fire penguin would be full of those contradictions. It was an acceptable compromise.

That shared love of ice cream, hot or cold, had formed the perfect basis for Asters main business venture. An entire chain of the Empires best ice cream, spread across countless worlds, would honestly not impact her finances too much one way or another, unless she went way overboard. But it was still tricky setting up the proper guidelines for quality while also being sustainable and expandable.

She wasnt like Allie, who could pop to her ideal scone store whenever she wanted. If she wanted to always have access to fresh, high-quality ice cream no matter where she went, shed need to make sure that her stores would have ice cream fit for an Ascender. It had to be good enough for her, and that made things harder. But it would be worth it.

Empire wide corporations are normally limited to one location per planet on Tier 15 and lower planets, but the rules become less strict as the world's Tier increases. If you pair with local business for resources and add in a few local flavors designed by someone with a Talent, the business can expand in a matter of years across the Empire whilst maintaining the core idea of unique flavors.

Despite having a similar demeanor to Luna, Alices voice was low and silky with just a touch of bass that gave her words gravitas. It gave her every word weight, and was independently compelling.

Aster swished her tail in dissatisfaction. That's the opposite of what I want. I want my ice cream to be everywhere, yes, but just hiring someone with a Talent or Domain for making perfect flavors isnt what I want. Every business does that, and they put out perfectly calculated items that end up all tasting perfect. I want to make ice cream that is good, but good doesnt demand perfection. Sometimes something is good because of the mistakes in flavor profiles.

Alice nodded to Aster's rebuttal but didnt seem to take it personally. While right after an Ascension is the best time to expand an Ascenders business, immediately after the war is a close second. If you want to make unique but not perfect ice creams, might I suggest turning that into a promotional activity?

When Aster agreed, she continued, I would suggest turning it into something of a tour. Go to planets, explore them a little, then make a flavor based on the planet as you open a location. It will serve as excellent marketing and drum up semi-local tourism, which can be written off the businesss taxes thanks to the money it brings to local economies.

Asters tail swished on its own as she considered the possibilities. Yes, that would be an excellent way to sample new flavors, and a way to check that the kitchens were at least able to keep up with her standards.

Oh, that could be so fun. What would a martial ice cream taste like? Cinnamon is an easy answer, but what about a fruity pairing with cinnamon? It might give it a bit of a punch without going overboard. But maybe

***

So, you said that buying the research firm should be the easy part, right?

Yep! Isabella nodded enthusiastically, her head bobbing up and down like Lizs mom would when in chicken form. Ive already managed to find fifteen institutions and research centers who have been struggling as of late. Well, fourteen and one preparing for their current owners Ascension in a couple centuries. Any of them should be affordable enough given the budget you provided combined with your own social cachet. The Resplendent Roots owner isnt likely to give away his team for anything short of Tier 45-level wealth, but having an Ascender in your social circle is almost invaluable.

Hmmmm Liz twirled a loop of hair around her finger. Lets put those at the bottom of the list for the moment. Id rather keep it monetary if at all possible, and Im less concerned about having the absolute best research equipment at the start than I am about simply having a proper team as a base.

Done. Now, in terms of experience did you have any preference for the form? A research group trying to revitalize dormant or faded bloodlines is going to have a very different background compared to one that studies elemental changes.

Liz nodded. Im definitely more interested in form-changes. The closer to base essence theory, the better. But, thats a low priority. Just about anything could be interesting. How does that change your list?

Isabella still looked a bit like she might fall over if she was brushed with a feather too hard, but she managed to hold herself up admirably. Well, right now my top choice would be Burnsons Institute. The worst thing about it as-of-now is its location. Relocation is likely to be your only choice to avoid incredible land-tenancy penalties, but

I wont have my duchy for another couple centuries. I see. Well, at least that means theres not much point in selecting one for how close it is to my lands. So why that one?

Well, the information isnt quite widely known yet, but they recently acquired Mondino Luzz as a staff member.

Liz raised an eyebrow at that. They did? I didnt even know Luzz was looking to relocate from The Bluebloods. How did that come about? And if they got Luzz, how the heck are they struggling so much that I might be able to afford them?

One and the same. Getting Luzz cost them most of their liquid funds and some of their own stars, but they werent due to get him for two hundred years. During that time, they ran into three independent disasters and now Burnson, or rather his backer Winona, is just trying to offload the research before it costs them even more out of pocket.

That is

tempting. And theyre serious about selling, when theyve got such a great oncomer? Luzz has got to be in the top hundred in the Empire for cross-breeding bloodlines.

Luzz has had his own set of rough times lately, with some serious gambling debt and a particularly virulent plague that put him out of commission for a few years. He recovered well enough, but most reports say that hes a bit more hesitant than he was before, or at least isnt as bold. But I think its a temporary setback. Or, if its not, he can still be an excellent mentor even if not a frontline researcher.

Phoenix-Liz bobbed her head in thought for a moment. How sure are you on this? The mans worth his weight in crystal, and I havent heard anything about all of this.

Instead of offering a rebuttal, Isabella handed Liz another sheet of paper. Liz whistled. Reading the report about Winonas current financial struggles, she couldnt help but wonder where anyone, let alone an academy student, had gotten their hands on that data. If they were correct, Winona had over-extended on a number of ventures, none of which had panned out, and she was heavily overleveraged and only keeping herself afloat with her personal delving funds. A Tier 40 who owned a delving slot could pull mountains of resources out of said rift, but the slots were often decades apart and might be Winonas only major source of income. If she had as much debt as Isabella had found, she was at best treading water while hoping one of her ventures paid off.

If even one of them did discover something or create something worthwhile, Winonas entire situation would turn around. But until they did, they were undeniably money pits. If Liz offered her a good deal for the team, Winona might very well sell the entire thing to buy her other ventures more time and get some of the creditors off her back.

And Liz was flush with cash at the moment, between the Path, aura rifts, dragon blood rift, bandage she could legitimately afford to help out a Tier 40 with their debt without bankrupting her and her entire family.

Then, their salary from the Empire, counting Matt selling mana regularly, would be enough to cover the ongoing expenses. Part of the deal with Matts mana was his mana was bought at seventy-five percent of the normal rate. The rate had been first proposed at ninety percent, but Matt had originally intended to give his mana away, and had only been convinced to take a rate as it was a good way to get money he could spend without suspicion.

Liz looked at Matt, and using his [AI], she ran some numbers and simulation before agreeing with Isabella. It's worth a shot, at least. Write me up a preliminary offer along with the bloodline brokerage business.

Her other idea came more from personal need than a desire for wealth, but in her efforts to collect rare and unique bloodlines for her tree, Liz had been looking for bloodlines on her own. The army was doing their best, but the army was ultimately a combat organization and primarily only had bloodlines that gave combat relevant powers, which left a lot of powers unavailable to her.

After putting their heads together, Liz decided that opening up a corporation that acted like a bloodline brokerage was the best way to gather the bloodlines she might need. There were a few bloodline traders, but they were fairly small. Lizs name and backing, combined with the fact she could pay more for the bloodlines than most competitors, would ensure her company saw a lot of bloodlines moving through its hands. The company would also allow her and Aster to gather more materials for their own bloodline advancements.

She still wanted to figure a way to merge fire and blood mana into a unified whole but, considering the difficulty Matt, Zack, and Erwin were having making a single fast mana, it was on the back burner. Once the supply lines and reputation were established, they would have a much easier time getting their hands on whatever they ended up needing.

Theyd even pull Matt in at some point, as hed expressed some interest in bloodline-adjacent aperology. Whether it was a rift that dropped more bond eggs or something which enhanced bloodlines directly, it would be costly to start, but could blossom into one heck of a mutual partnership. If they ever made headway.

Yeah, I like this. Thank you Isabella, youre doing great.

Her new seneschal flushed and ducked her head.

***

Even once he finished talking to Cato about his guild, there was still enough random and boring paperwork that they were each tied down for a good hour after the fun stuff was taken care of. Technically, there was even more left to do, but they had another meeting to get to. As Aster had intuited, they needed to do a press tour now that they were in the capital system on a healing cooldown.

With Cato, Alice, and Isabella following behind them, the six of them made their way back into the bustling city where they found an awaiting chauffeur and flew directly to the train station.

While they were on the way to do a news interview, Aster wanted them to stop and have a public lunch with Cynthia, the actress who played Aster in nearly all of her movies. The idea was part of her plan to get the show made about her time at the beast academy by drumming up publicity for both them and Cynthia.

Cynthia Sinclair looked perfect in a way that told Matt it was part of her Domain. What he found interesting was how similar to Aster she looked. He knew actors changed their bodies to match the person they were portraying, but while Cynthias face was her own, her height, proportions, and even her gait were exactly like Asters. It gave her a level of uncanniness that caught Matt off guard.

Aster skipped forward and pulled Cynthia into a small hug before turning to introduce her to Matt and Liz.

Smiling, Matt shook the proffered hand before settling in for a light lunch. To his surprise, he actually enjoyed the time with Cynthia, who had endless commentary on the movies they had been filming.

We have been endlessly busy. Ive been bouncing between three production companies and five movie sets. I have to say I kind of enjoy the more silly movies.

Hearing they were already making wacky Ascender movies about them made Matt groan, with Liz making a similar sound.

Cynthia just laughed. Really, they aren't that bad. They are good because they help humanize you guys. They also sell really well, which doesn't hurt.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Liz rolled her eyes. But how can you enjoy that drivel? Half of them feel like they are outlandishly bad on purpose.

The actor nodded along. Thats exactly it. Dont get me wrong, acting in a serious role comes with amazing highs. When you nail a line just the way it was meant to be, and you convey a dozen layers of emotion in every gesture, it's rewarding like nothing else. But the goofy movies have their own merits. A lot of ad libbing is allowed, and no one is too worried if the drops of sweat on your face are in the exact same place as they were in the last take, so it's more relaxed. Youll never win accolades for that kind of movie, but you earn a lot more public recognition for those roles, which usually leads to more of the first kind of movie.

Matt understood it, but couldnt agree as the subject of the movies in question.

Aster leaned in, and with a flick of her ears asked, So, give us some dirt on one of your movies. Some hot gossip.

Cynthia seemed to think for a minute before nodding to Liz. Your actress in one of the more comedic movies has been changing her cup size between takes. I dont think there will be a single scene in the movie that matches.

Matt snorted at that and got a light glare and squawk from phoenix Liz, even as human Liz put her face in her hands. Thats so, so, so...

Not able to help himself, Matt interjected. Funny?

Rolling her eyes, Liz snarked right back, Lets see you laugh when it's your turn. Cynthia, hit him with something embarrassing.

Cynthia pursed her lips before shrugging. I got nothing.

Phoenix Liz squawked at the actor before falling into ash at the indignity. Matt started for a moment. He didnt realize Liz had a skill to fake that and then he felt Asters amusement leak through their bond and he realized what had happened. Honestly, it was a testament to how good her illusions were these days that he still couldnt tell it was fake, even when looking for it.

Laughing, Cynthia leaned in. Ok, so Brian Hawthorn, the man who is playing Matt in the movie about the Tier 10 tournament, is going to strangle the director. That would be fine, but the director is going for hyper realism and is basically just remaking the recorded footage to an exacting degree. I heard that he made them reset a fight a dozen times before he was happy with how the fire spread from an attack. It wasnt that the major effect wasnt controlled, but there were offshoots of embers and he didnt like how they spread, so they spent hours redoing the fight. Rumor is that Brian and the director had a prior history of butting heads, and thats why he is doing it. Nodding to Aster, she added, So Im glad you werent there and my parts amounted to a few made up video calls cheering you two on.

Wait, if they are made up, how are they getting in the movie?

Cynthia pretended to preen. Because Im so loveable and good on camera.

For all that Matt had come into this as a favor, by the end of the lunch, he could understand how and why Aster had become friendly with this woman.

Cynthia was a little dramatic, but from what he saw of her, she seemed to genuinely love making movies and was easily distracted by talking about roles she might be able to get after the initial flurry of Ascender movies ended in a century or so.

From there, they arrived at one of the extra large spatially expanded mega structures. With an area rivaling a large moon, the skyscraper stood among a dozen of its peers linked together with a number of bridges. They werent the only buildings with news studios, but this was the Empire's news gathering heartland. The nine largest news outlets ran out of the skyscraper, each with a number of small companies sharing the remaining three buildings.

As they entered the building, Cato sent Matt a few sample questions the news stations indicated they might be asking.

Scanning through them, Matt found nothing out of the ordinary and happily noted there was nothing egregious. He was mildly surprised at the mention of a guest star host, but after looking into the man, Aurelius Cora, a Tier 36 prize fighter, he didnt really mind.

Matt didnt know of him, but a quick search said Aurelius was a regular guest host when the station had combat relevant topics. While he seemed to be well regarded as a host who asked good questions and never pressured the guests, what Matt found about his career was less pleasant.

Prize fighters rarely killed each other or died, but Aurelius had killed several people during his career, usually two or three per Tier. It wasnt illegal, and it was rare to find a professional past Tier 30 who had never killed someone in the ring, but Aurelius in particular never seemed to hold himself back when fighting, which led to his higher-than-average number of kills. His official statement was he fought like his life was on the line in every fight and gave it his all, which meant it was hard to hold back his attacks, but it gave him a bit of a dark reputation in the ring.

That brought him a measure of fame, and Matt had to wonder if the kills were delivered to fuel his reputation more than they were accidents. A handful of deaths out of hundreds or even thousands of fights might not seem like a lot, but he was right near the top for the highest kills-per-match average. He was neck-and-neck with Huri Fieri, a volcano mage who tended to win in one giant explosion that could sometimes be a bit too giant, but he tended to show remorse whenever an eruption proved lethal.

Still, Matt tried not to judge Aurelius too harshly. His personal body count was thousands of times higher than the mans, and he hadnt even been in the war for a decade. The situations were very different, but he didnt want to vilify the man without getting to know him.

It felt hypocritical.

After getting some light makeup put on, Matt tried to put on his best friendly face. The lunch with Cynthia surprisingly helped, as it had put him in a jovial mood. And best of all, Cato was there to help bounce possible questions and answers off of. Cato was a well trained seneschal, and part of that training included public speaking.

This interview was supposed to be mostly a fluff piece, as few news outlets were ballsy enough to push Ascenders, but it did happen, and Matt didnt want to be caught flat footed if it happened today.

Walking out on the stage, Matt pushed the bounds of what was polite and spread his spiritual perception to lightly inspect the crowd that was almost hidden from him by the bright lights, and found hundreds of people in attendance.

Waving slightly to them, he made his way over to the seats that had been prepared for them. Liz was already there, and the moment he shook the main hosts hands and sat down, Aster came bouncing out.

Her waves seemed more authentic than Matts, even as she made her way over to their hosts.

Abigail Fawn and Nathan Parks were well respected news anchors known for their tight commentary, both of them having worked their way up from street work to gathering a large enough following among immortals and mortals alike to rate their own shows.

Aurelius Cora came out after their introductions were done, and Matt inspected him. A thin man, he was lean and carried himself lightly, keeping to his toes even when he paused to point and wave at people in the crowd. He was otherwise unremarkable besides the sword shaped iris, which Matt mistook for a snake bloodline until he was able to see the small crossguard which gave away the shape.

A unique modification, but not the craziest one he had ever seen.

Aurelius sauntered over before smiling and taking Aster's hand in a firm grip before moving on to Matt, then Liz. Once he finished greeting them, he moved to the hosts and took a seat next to them.

Abigail laughed as he sat down. Always good to see you again, Aurelius, but I think this might just be both of our biggest interviews. Does that make you nervous? It makes me a little nervous.

Aurelius nodded as he looked into one of the cameras. It does. I wouldnt want to make a fool of myself in front of both Ascenders and the Empire. One or the other maybe, but both? Im fine without that experience, thank you very much.

Nathan chuckled at the joke before starting the interview. Well put. Well put. I hear you guys are revealing your new Ascender titles. Names, names, names. Always so important to nail down, but hard to get right. What did you three land on, and how did you land on them?

Aster laughed and swished her tail to gather everyone's attention. Well, as you can probably guess, its been something weve discussed for quite some time. We know that to some people, well always be Scoop, Quill, and Torch, but we felt we could do better. Represent our true capabilities a bit more.

She winked at the camera and continued, I have to shove some of the blame onto One Step Behind, though. He gave us new titles during our last mission, and while theyre in Guild Common, they were pretty close to a set we were already debating. And at the risk of sounding a bit egotistical, they were pretty damn good in Empire Common as well, so we kept most of the names with just some slight alterations to mine.

Abigail pretended to swoon and leaned back in her chair. Well, share! We are dying to know.

I would like to formally introduce ourselves as Ascenders Wraith, Titan, and Legion. Youll never see us coming, youll never beat us, and youll never get rid of us.

Abigail waited until the applause died down, which took almost a full five minutes even with the studio trying to calm the audience. Good names! Strong ones, and quite fitting.

Nathan agreed before moving them along. Very fitting, but I have to ask. Everyone always wants to know. How does it feel to become an Ascender? It has to be a unique change of worldview. To go from fighting daily to advance as fast as possible to suddenly becoming overnight sensations with your names and faces everywhere. Ascender Legion, do you maybe have a unique perspective being the daughter of two royals? Both myself and our fans are dying to hear about your experience.

Liz put on a smile before shrugging the shoulder that bird Liz was perched on. It's still quite a perilous experience. Its not like I had people hand feeding me delicacies while on the Path. I grew up privileged, but my time on The Path was the same as everyone else's. We fought, we trained, we fought, we did a mission or five, and then repeated the cycle until we finished. As for going from simple delver to Ascender Our experiences are probably hindered by the ongoing war, but so far, we havent had much time to do anything but bounce from fight to fight.

Abigail raised an eyebrow at that answer. Oh, so you didnt feel a little more at home returning to the capital having grown up around the Emperor himself?

Liz didnt let it reflect in her body language, but Matt could tell she was growing a little irritated at the line of questioning. This wasnt unexpected, but he knew her background and people thinking she hadnt needed to work as hard to reach this level rankled her.

While growing up in my position most certainly gave me some advantages, most of those were wiped away when my Talent blocked my usage of fire. Phoenix Liz chirped her agreement. That was the largest hindrance. I needed to transition from using fire all my life to using blood. For the first ten Tiers or so, I wasnt that much different than a water mage in how I fought, and even now I default to that style, as it is potent. I think thats what people should take away from my childhood. No matter how prepared for awakening you think you are, the world doesn't end just because your Talent isnt what you expected, wanted, or planned for. Keeping your chin up and pushing through that adversity will serve everyone better than clinging to what once was.

Aurelius clapped at that. Well said. Hardship really is just a test, a challenge to be overcome, but few overcome them to the degree such as you. It's a testament to hard work that you are where you are now.

Abigail nodded along before turning to Matt. How does it feel to be married to a princess? That had to be a shock.

Matt politely laughed. I knew that Legion came from a wealthy background, but I had no idea what that really meant. When I was a simple Tier 2, I thought Tier 5s were unimaginably wealthy. I didnt know her parents were royals until well after we were a team, and let me tell you, shock is putting it lightly. Honestly, I dont think it sank in until I visited her childhood home.

Nathan laughed. It must be beyond opulent.

Matt nodded along with him. Oh, it is. Queen Mara and King Leon have fancy tastes and everything is obviously nice, but then there is the room Legion grew up in. I know none of you will believe me, but it wasnt that much better than what I, or any other normal kid, grew up with back on Lilly.

Abigail shook her head, You're right. I dont believe it.

They had talked about this before, and Liz didnt mind him sharing the story, so Matt intended to use it as his way to avoid most of the questions of that nature, and keeping his answers half-jokes should hopefully keep the topic off his parents and off Lizs wealth by playing it down in a truthful way.

After that question, they went through a dozen more soft ball general questions from things like how they got along with the other Ascenders, to how it felt to have a practically unlimited budget, to how people treated them differently. They were meant to help humanize them to the general populace.

There was even a question about if they liked the movies about them, to which Matt dutifully played his part and mentioned how good Cynthia had done playing Aster, and how he would love to see her in a show about Aster's time at the Bond Academy. It was probably a little more heavy-handed than Aster would have liked, if the feeling she sent him through their bond was any indication, but he didnt let that bother him. He had done his part. If the studios didnt get to the show in the next decade or two, hed just send them a message.

When the easy questions were out of the way, they moved onto more hard hitting questions about the war.

Abigail flicked her fingers and the back wall turned into a screen. A recording that must have come from a watcher appeared on the viewing screen, showing them attacking the shipyard. Aster, with her massive conjuration of ice, got most of the attention, but Liz proved why she earned her name with the many clones of herself running around the fight.

It was actually quite fun to see the two of them get so much attention.

Up next, we have footage from your battle against a fortified position in Guild space. We would love to run through this battle as well, and get some of your thoughts on it. Abigail leaned towards the audience and loudly whispered, Spoiler alert. They win. Again.

Matt chuckled politely even as Nathan shook his head. Not just a win, but a crushing one. Two dead pinnacle elites, two more captured, and one slippery little fish who managed to flee.

For the first time in a while, Aurelius spoke up. Truly remarkable. Let me remind the audience that even among the highest level of prize fighting, those who can match pinnacle elites are few and far between. They stand just a step below Ascenders in power levels, and are correspondingly rare. A Great Power might have only fifty spread between all twenty Tiers of the war. Drop any one of these people in a ring and they will readily crush their foes.

As they went through the battle, the hosts oohed and aahed, asking the appropriate questions with the occasional commentary from Aurelius. Matt had to admit, the man had a sharp eye and noticed things that even other combatants would fail to, without revealing anything that could be considered sensitive.

When they reached the part where Cameron Chime detonated his core, everyone but Aurelius gasped.

Nathan shook his head as they watched Matt standing in the wreckage of the moon as the dust kicked up and was blown away by the follow up explosions and some editing. His armor was visibly cooking his skin, but with how fast his [Regeneration] was healing him, it looked like he wasnt even taking damage.

Just as he launched himself forward to capture Klix, the recording paused. I cant believe it, though I certainly agree with the name Titan. Both are fitting for someone who can eat a core detonation to the face and not even be phased.

Aurelius looked at Matt for a long moment before nodding. It's truly impressive. I must say Ascender, seeing you in action, I cant wait for the day you reach Tier 36 and we can have a duel. It's rare to find someone who makes my blade sing so.

Matt nodded to the man. Ill happily accept your challenge when I reach that Tier. I may not be Talented in the blade, but Ill take any chance to experience such a battle.

Abigail clapped her hands as she stood up and faced the crowd. And you heard it first here, people. Ascender Titan versus Aurelius Cora when Ascender Titan reaches Tier 36. Sadly, that is all we have time for. If you want to see more please check out our spo

As she went into her spiel about sponsors and ads, Matt tuned her out to give his best smile to the crowd and camera.

This hadnt been as bad as he expected.

He hoped the next dozen were similar, but he doubted that was possible.