The Path of Ascension

Chapter 153

Matt found himself standing in a sea of oppressive white light for what felt like an eternity until slowly, almost too slowly to notice, the color and form bled back into the world.

A simple room materialized from the nothingness, nothing more than a plain stone box. A woman with steel gray hair was kneeling there, gently polishing a longsword.

Shen Ruogang, for that was the only person she could be, didn't look up, and Matt didnt disturb her. He had met more than a few sword wielders who had odd tempers and traditions, and he was in no rush.

Finally, after nearly half an hour, Shen Ruogang looked up, and he was met with a woman who had a face worn by time and tragedy, every line etched deeply into her flesh.

But what caught Matt's attention were her eyes.

Like how his own had been taken over by a white hole, Shen Ruogangs eyes were a matching steel gray to her hair, but they gave off a pressure that felt like it was cutting his very spirit as he caught and met them.

He was unable to rally his own Concept to prevent it, but also felt it wasnt needed. The pressure wasnt inherently good or bad. It just was.

Their staring contest continued until Matt was forced to look away, as the pressure finally grew to a point that he felt light-headed.

I am Shen Ruogang. And what is your name?

The woman's voice was in contrast to her appearance and light and airy. What took Matt by surprise was that she was speaking the Corporations language, and he understood it. It wasnt like when his AI was translating for him; it was almost as if they were speaking in some form of spirit-to-spirit communication that transcended language.

Matt nodded but kept his eyes on her face as he said, Matthew Alexander. Call me Matt, please.

Shen Ruogang nodded and gracefully rose to her feet, her sword snapping into her hand as if it was magnetized.

You come here for training and the modification of a skill, young Imperial. I have a few questions before we begin. What year is it? How fares the Corporation Great Power? What is the status of the Great Powers in general?

She gave him a slight smile as if not expecting him to be able to answer any of those questions, but Matt was well read on most of that thanks to his lessons from Luna. Ciceron had also warned him that the person inside the legacy might ask questions, and to answer as best he could with no worries.

The imprints of the original cultivators were completely sealed inside the obelisk that was the legacy, and were unable to share anything they learned. But they still wondered about what had happened since their creation of the legacy.

We are in Emperor Emmanuel's era and just over two thousand years into his rule. He is the son of Georgios and grandson of Agatha. The Corporation still serves as the main trading partner of the Great Powers, and fares well enough with JR at their head. KalDire and Amon Dai are the sales arbiter and Military leader, respectively. The Clans are still the mightiest Great Power, but as Sword Saint Hastor is about to ascend, their ranking as the number one Great Power is in jeopardy.

Shen Ruogang nodded before thanking Matt. I hadnt expected you to know so much. Thank you. It hasn't been all that long at all since I entered this obelisk. Good to know.

She smirked at Matts questioning face and asked, Confused as to why I am here in the Empire? Easy, the price was right.

She looked at her sword, and lovingly stroked its guard with her thumb. I needed a Tier 45 material, one which only Georgios had, to upgrade my sword to Tier 45 so it could survive ascension with me. In exchange, I agreed to pass on my specialties.

The steel-haired woman caught Matt's eyes, and she asked, Now onto the more important things. Are you talented, or are you Talented?

Matt could hear the capital T on the second Talented and shook his head. I'm good, but not Talented. I just needed to rely on a weapon, and the longsword always felt most comfortable to me. But I've never had a problem with picking up a hammer or an axe if they were needed to get the job done.

Instead of looking upset, Shen Ruogang nodded at that. Picture your sword and everything about it. Imagine it, and it will appear.

Matt did as he was instructed and pictured his sword. It was easy. He had wielded the weapon for decades, and they had fought through most rifts together.

He pictured its weight, which was above average for weapons of its Tier, and how it settled nicely into his hand. He knew exactly how the tip of the weapon would hover slightly above the ground with the angle he was holding his wrist at, and how it would reflect a portion of the light with its dull gray metal.

The runes he had personally carved into the weapon to enchant it at every Tier, and their effects further strengthened the already powerful and durable weapon.

Matt knew every detail about his sword.

When he looked down, his sword was in his hand, exactly as he knew it.

Shen Ruogang brought her sword up and to the ready before saying, Let us learn about each other in the only way a practitioner of the sword knows.

With that, she launched into a series of probing attacks that sought out any weaknesses in his defensive forms. When she found none, she started moving and brought footwork into the fight.

Matt kept on the defensive until he believed he had a measure of the swordswoman, and instead of just blocking, thrust at her hip after deflecting Shen Ruogangs blade.

The more experienced woman weaved out of the way while stealing the momentum of his blow, and bringing her sword around in a downward chop.

Matt sidestepped the blow and struck back. He had nothing to fear about his secrets getting out, and pictured [Cracked Phantom Armor] and [Mages Retreat] in his spirit, then flooded them with mana.

He was going to show her everything he had.

With overwhelming strength, Matt's longsword lashed out, and as he felt the air resistance slow his blade down and scream in protest, he used his Concept to part the air in front of his blade.

Shen Ruogang took the strike on the flat of her blade, and with a smile, kicked at his forward knee.

Matt smiled and stepped into the blow, checking her kick.

[Cracked Phantom Armor] didn't even flicker, and with that moment of distraction, he pushed through the legacy spirit's blade and sent her stumbling back. Or, that was what he expected to happen.

While Shen Ruogang was sent into the air, she landed gracefully and then slashed downward at where Matt would have been if he had heedlessly rushed to follow the attack up.

Good. While you fight with superior strength, you are not ruled by rage or overly confident. I must say, that that is an impressive armor skill you have. I don't know if I could break through it without skills and at your Tier.

After speaking, she calmly dropped out of her fighting stance and walked over to the chair and table before sitting down.

Sit with me, and tell me what you will of your Talents and fighting style. Speak of how you believe you will progress. Tell me what you want out of [Sword Doppelganger].

Matt sat down, mentally dismissing his weapon and armor.

While it went against decades of training, he spilled everything. My Talent will give me billions of mana per second and reserves that are in the millions. Right now, it's fairly limited, but I am able to generate around 1000 MPS and use that to fuel attacks and channel skills. With that in mind, I believe that Ill be starting most fights with magical attacks, and mostly manage as a mage.

Matt summoned his sword and let it rest against his chest and neck as he said, But I don't want to be weak and vulnerable to a short range ambush or anything. Even with all of that, I want to take my greater physical strength and become a true hybrid. A blade mage. I wanted [Sword Doppelganger] because it will afford me the greatest benefits in both the short and long term. With its near-unlimited ability to take and utilize more and more mana, it synergies well with both my Talent and my growth longswords ability.

Shen Ruogang nodded along until Matt finished. What do you know about weapon Domains?

Matt half shrugged. Not much. Every Concept I've seen so far has been far more personalized to the individual like my White Hole Concept, or others.

Despite the woman not being able to share anything, Matt still wasn't going to tell her about his friend's Concepts, but those were what he was thinking over. Everyone had found their uniqueness and built upon it.

While he had heard of weapon Concepts, he hadnt met anyone who used one.

While they are the easy example, or at least were in my time, few people resonate with a weapon so much that they can build a Domain around it. A longsword Concept is sometimes the first step people take, and others the last, depending on how they grow their Domain. While all Concepts are unique, weapon Concepts vary less than some of the others in their effects. Like how all Concepts can manipulate space, weapon Concepts have their own advantages.

She lifted a finger. First is a manifestation of the weapon in question. She pointed at his eyes, Kinda like your eyes, but in a physical and deadly form. They are fairly recognizable because of their reaction to real space. They generally have a warping effect on their surroundings, and often seem more real than anything near them. They are incredibly hard to maintain for long periods of time for most Tier 10s. You will rarely see a low Tier fighter manifest their weapon for more than a strike or two, as it's incredibly draining for ones willpower.

Shen Ruogang lifted her empty hand, and then a second identical longsword to the one resting on her side appeared. It seemed to draw in everything around it in subtle ways.

Matt's mind immediately went to Queen's weapon, and he asked, I've seen one person with a weapon like that, but it's always on her, and she seemingly uses it for her normal weapon.

Shen Ruogang raised an eyebrow but didnt contradict Matt, so he continued. She's a masked Greatsword wielder and a beast in a fight. She cut a Tier 13 boss monster out of the sky in a single strike with a skill. But she always has the weapon out.

The first one isn't that surprising. A weapon manifestation lends itself to sending out skills, especially weapon skills. It's like a more perfect conductor for those skills. The second part about her always using her manifestation is Shen Ruogang shrugged, Surprising, concerning, and impressive. Take your choice of adjective, and she's it. I couldn't do something like that until far later.

Matt filed that tidbit of information away and nodded before they moved on. Weapon Concepts can do other things I'll show you later, but for now, I want to know what you want to get from [Sword Doppelganger]. I know you said you want the ability to spend more mana, but I can do so much more than that.

Matt nodded, then described his sword and its growth ability to Shen Ruogang, who just nodded and agreed that the ability to double up on such a strong weapon would be advantageous. In the end, she suggested the ability to have an autonomous defender would be better for his role as a mage, and would better reinforce his weapon when he combined the skill and his physical sword.

He didn't quite agree, but eventually acquiesced when she said, Let's start with my suggestion, and if you can draw out enough of my powers, I can assist you with allowing the skill to take more mana.

That started a conversation about how legacies actually worked, but Matt focused on one piece of information in particular. He could draw out more energy the better he fought Shen Ruogang.

As Matt had never been one to back down from a challenge, he readily agreed to her suggestion, and they both stood from the table in unison and readied their weapons.

***

Matt deflected a downward thrust from Shen Ruogang's plunging attack before he was forced on the defensive once again as the older woman lashed out at him. Before the start of their second fight, Matt had thought [Cracked Phantom Armor] was more than strong enough to withstand a direct attack from his teacher. But he had quickly learned that once she infused her weapon with her Concept, his armor meant little.

The only time he was able to defend against a direct attack was when he put all of his concentration to a single part of his armors second layer. Even then, if he was the slightest bit off with his mana control, he would lose a limb.

Getting wounded in here wasn't dangerous, and the room would automatically reform him after a few minutes, but he had learned and mastered the ability to forcefully recondense his body, instead of wasting his time waiting for the legacy to do it for him.

Speeding up the healing process increased the pain and mental stress he was under a million-fold, but it let him reduce downtime. Still, he could feel himself pulling energy from the legacy, even in the slowest of motions, because of the time dilation. He could feel [Sword Doppelganger] slowly moving through his spirit, closer and closer to his core spirit. Once it reached that final spot, their time would be over, and Matt wanted the very best Shen Ruogang was offering.

And the better he did, the harder she pushed.

It didnt matter how many times he got hurt. He reformed himself and returned to the fight.

***

Matt had no idea how long they had been fighting when he finally mastered dueling against an opponent who could cut through his armor and sword so easily. Just as he started to draw even with her, Shen Ruogang brought out another move that a longsword Concept could do.

She had just finished a rightward chop when a second version of her arms and blade appeared and attacked him from his left.

Matt, completely unprepared, was killed on the spot, and was forced to recondense himself before they continued with the fight.

It took quite a few deaths, but he eventually, he learned how the new skill worked. Shen Ruogang was able to create a second, or even third copy of herself, superimposed on her location for the purpose of attack or defense with her weapon Domain. It was like fighting three of her at once, and all the advantages he had learned in fighting her were seemingly reset back to square one.

As they fell into a new rhythm, Matt felt his mind slip into a dream-like state.

***

After what seemed like an eternity of battling, Matt finally had an epiphany and created a [Sword Doppelganger] to fight next to him. At first, the weapon was slow and unwieldy, but it helped level the playing field.

As they fought, the weapon grew faster and smarter. More aggressive.

Once it became an equal partner in the fight, it started to grow more durable, and was able to survive a hit before Matt was forced to recast the spell. Soon after, it was able to withstand two separate attacks. Eventually, it was able to block a full-powered strike from Shen Ruogangs Concept empowered sword with only a few chips in the blade.

Shen Ruogang just smiled as Matt grew and adjusted his new skill to more of his liking. He could vaguely feel that she, or rather the legacy itself, was doing something to help him, but it all seemed secondary.

[Sword Doppelganger] learned how to fight from a few clumsy swings and thrusts with a weak form and through their fighting refined itself every time it was destroyed.

It seemed to learn from and with Matt and before long became his mirror in more than form.

That figured out the only thing that mattered was the fight, and Matt felt his mind slip back into that half-dream space once again.

***

Matt lunged forward and attacked Shen Ruogang with endless aggression and slammed his blade into hers. As he fought and refined his fighting style he learned that he did better and grew closer to his Concept when he embodied it.

That meant he needed to be endless.

And it was easier to be endless when on the offense rather than defense.

It also helped refine his own combat style as Shen Ruogang was hands down the best melee fighter he had ever had to deal with.

Unless he pulled some new move out of his repertoire she never even so much as took a hit.

And Matt refused to let his opportunity pass him by.

He couldn't ask for a better training partner.

***

Matt and two [Sword Doppelganger]s cut and hacked at Shen Ruogang with her seemingly impenetrable defense. No matter how he came at her, she was always able to get her sword between his weapon and her person.

The grueling onslaught of training had forced him to refine his fighting style over and over while under the dreamlike mental fog, but Matt's very bones and muscles remembered the new moves as he improved.

Whenever he was able to beat her, Shen Ruogang changed her styles and form before pushing Matt into finding new limits. Eventually, all the kinks were worked out of his meager proficiency with [Sword Doppelganger] before she forced him to grow once again.

Currently, Shen Ruogang was fighting with a heavy, strength-based style, while Matt used a faster and more light-footed style to counter her.

He flitted from one light attack to the next and rarely stood still long enough for her to bring around one of her heavy attacks.

After dodging back from a blow that he knew he couldn't block, Matt launched forward using one of his [Sword Dopplegangers] to intercept the second copy of Shen Ruogangs arms and sword, before thrusting at her abdomen.

His sword was cut in half as a third set of limbs and arms slipped past his second weapon.

Matt had a flash of frustration, and the clarity that followed led to him merging his magical [Sword Doppelganger] with his real sword.

At first, the merging was slow and crude, with the magical blade rejecting being inside the physical blade. But Matt was the master here, and kept forcing the two swords to merge until he learned how to make them a stable, cohesive whole.

He tried to then summon a second copy of [Sword Doppelganger], but in the process of learning how to merge his weapon, he had lost the ability to summon two copies of the skill.

Something about the process of learning to merge his weapons was exclusive, with the sacrifice being summoning two versions of the skill at once.

In the back of his mind, he heard Shen Ruogang whispering that the issue couldn't be solved before the skill was upgraded, and he needed to make a choice. Learning that Matt easily chose the single sword clone and the ability to merge them over two helping swords.

He somehow knew that there was greater strength in starting the skill with a single instance of the weapon that was stronger, compared to starting with two and then trying to figure out how to merge them later.

***

Matt screamed as he forced the [Sword Doppelganger] clone of his weapon to cast a version of the spell he wanted. He had finally forced Shen Ruogang to start using her other skills like [Sword Minion], [Phantom Blade], [Shadow Sword], [Vanishing Sword], and even [Sword Doppelganger] but with those extra skills at her disposal she was a beast he couldn't defeat.

At least not if he couldn't cast spells through his extra [Sword Doppelganger].

He had seen Shen Ruogang do exactly that so he knew it was possible but the skill seemed to resist making that change.

Matt kept forcing it despite dying over and over.

What felt like months later he succeeded and a double [Mana Slash] flew from his combined blades.

His grin matched Shen Ruogang's.

Progress.

***

Matt felt [Sword Doppelganger] settle firmly into his spirit, and the legacy tried to eject him.

Matt refused to be sent away, and as Shen Ruogang's smile grew, he forced the world to accept his presence as he threw himself back into the fight. Even if [Sword Doppelganger] had finished its changes, he could still learn from the swordswoman in front of him.

This was an opportunity, and he intended to squeeze every drop out of it. Fighting a stronger opponent endlessly with no chance of death was too valuable an opportunity to pass up.

Staying here fit both his Concept and his own needs to become a better melee fighter.

***

Liz entered her legacy and found herself standing in front of an old woman who looked to have both feet in the grave.

As she inspected the hunched back and wrinkles, Liz corrected herself. Oppa might have more than both feet in the grave. She looked ready to fall over at the slightest breeze.

After Liz took third place in the water mages competition, she had been led into the legacy by Ciceron, and according to her notes after browsing the files, she knew exactly who she wanted.

Oppa the Tidal Wave was one of the oldest legacies the Empire had. It was so old, no one actually knew where or what time period the legacy actually came from. Even the language it spoke was a complete unknown.

What they did know was that the woman of the legacy was one of the only ways to get a Tier 14 [Tidal Wave]-like skill. She was able to take the Tier 14 [Wave] skill, and upscale it to an unheard-of level that rivaled, or in some ways surpassed, the Tier 32 [Tsunami] skill. The boost in strength was large enough to give the upgraded version of the spell a new name by Empire standards.

Oppa immediately spat in an unknown but understandable language, You are no water mage, girl. What are you doing here?

Liz frowned but answered truthfully. My Talent allows me to convert skills to have a blood affinity, rendering water spells optimal for most cases.

Oppa, upon hearing that, hobbled over to Liz before sniffing her hand and then arm.

Fair enough, girlie, fair enough. Ill allow it. But first, answer me this. When someone comes to your home and kills everyone you care about because they wanted to test out a skill and wipe out a continent, what do you do?

Liz could feel that Oppa sincerely cared about that answer, and Liz asked herself how she would react. I'd hide away and gather my strength, and then once I was strong enough, Id capture them and then punish them.

Oppa shook her head, and the tight bun of gray hairs swayed back and forth. But what do you do when they have already left the realm, and are beyond your reach?

Liz jerked her head above them to where the higher realms were. Chase after them.

If someone took her friends and family away from her, she would spare no effort, even if she needed to spend a million years training and growing to enact her revenge.

Oppa smiled an evil and vicious smile. No, girl. He tested out a skill on my people, and I tested out a skill on his. But I ensured there were no survivors, unlike him. The skill you want to learn from me has a history steeped in blood. Are you ok with a legacy like that?

Liz nodded, ignoring the smirk and pun at the mention of blood. She knew the world isn't kind or nice, but while she couldn't change anyone else's actions, she could ensure her own reactions were within proportion to the crime committed.

She was tailor-made to bathe a city in blood, but Liz was better than her element. She was not defined by it leanings.

I will take what you used and make it the physical representation of blood, but I wont kill those who dont deserve it. At Oppa's raised eyebrow, Liz continued, I need the skill for the battlefields where I will be facing hundreds of thousands of people at my Tier. [Tidal Wave] is the perfect clean up move for after Ive already decimated the enemies' armies. Anyone who refuses to surrender or flee can be washed away.

Oppa smiled at Liz and said, Let's see how long your conviction lasts.

***

Liz dodged to the side as a blast of water was shot at her, and she lashed back out with a tendril of blood.

One of the things Oppa seemed to want to beat into her was the ability to control blood even when it was diluted with water.

It was a hard skill, and Liz had only mastered keeping the blood already under her control from being diluted. She still didn't have the minute control to pull blood out of water when it was already diluted.

Gathering her energy, Liz cast [Tidal Wave] with the blood that had built up over the hour or so from their latest fight since resetting the battlefield.

A massive surge arose from the gathered blood and turned into a pillar that slammed forward.

Liz frowned as Oppa waved a hand, and a proper wave blasted her blood away like a sandcastle at the beach.

Her [Blood Tidal Wave] lacked the speed and viciousness that Oppa's did. Oppa's [Tidal Wave]s had a presence and weight that ensured they were self perpetuating, and destructive enough to crush even the largest of city walls before their might.

Oppa laughed. Youll never have more blood than a water mage will have water, unless you start sacrificing cities. The only way to advance is on a sea of blood. Embrace it girle. Youll be even more of a monster than me given time. It's in your Talent which means its in your nature.

Liz started to gather blood as she created a bubble shield to protect herself.

***

Liz punched out, and a swirling tendril of blood tried to catch Oppa off guard, but the normally hunched back woman was slipperier than an eel. She didnt suffer from the joint pain and stiffness that someone of her physical age should have.

As Liz cast [Blood Tidal Wave] for what felt like the millionth time, she tried to focus on the effects she wanted.

A mass of blood rose up and then crashed forward, into and through the defenses that Oppa created. But while she had broken the initial layer, her skill lacked the penetrating power to truly break through the womans defenses and hurt her.

Still, Liz was getting closer.

And that wasn't all that was improving. Oppa had exacting expectations of combat proficiency she held Liz to, and whenever Liz wasn't performing up to par, she brutally crushed the blood mage and forced her to restart.

Considering that most of Liz's combat potential came when she had built up enough blood to overwhelm Oppa, it meant that Liz once again needed to start building up a reserve of blood to cast her more destructive spell.

[Blood Tidal Wave] had turned into her single most destructive skill now, and was fully capable of destroying a small city on its own. Liz still demanded that they use army busters, but while Oppa usually acquiesced to those requests, she also forced Liz to cast her spell at a city-like structure when she felt Liz had started to stall in her progress.

If the woman didnt have a childlike smile on her face whenever Liz destroyed an ever-larger part of the city, Liz would have thought she was trying to warn Liz off the destruction.

Liz took away a different lesson than what she believed Oppa wanted her to.

***

Liz punched out and hit Oppa before casting [Blood Tidal Wave] for what seemed like the billionth time. From behind her, a two hundred-foot tall and fifty-foot thick wave of blood sprung up and then raced forward, overwhelming the defenses that Oppa created.

As the hunched-back woman was sent sprawling, Liz heard her laugh. You're a right monster, girl. Youll be drowning your enemy's planets before you know it. Maybe youll be able to match what I did when I extinguished a sun. There is nothing better than hearing a planet cry as you cut off their teleportation routes and extinguish their life-giving star. Hearing their pleas and cries as they run out of mana to keep themselves warm... Then you start filling the planet with water and watch them learn to swim.

Oppa laughed and despite it not being a cackle it transformed into one in Lizs mind.

Liz cursed the old woman in her mind as she readied herself again.

She would prove this old woman wrong with might if nothing else.

***

Liz felt the end of the legacy nearing but resisted. She might hate this old crone to her core, but this was some of the best training she had gotten in years, and she wanted it to continue.

While she knew it was futile, she wanted to show the crazy woman that she was better than her for her control and restraint, not despite it.

As she gathered her energy for another round, Liz smiled.

She was in control, and she was strong.

Stronger than she had ever been.

And she wanted to beat this old crone. She just needed one more attempt.

She was this close.

***

Liz woke up and instinctively tried to reach for blood, but as the act sent a stabbing jolt through her spirit, she realized why she was in so much pain.

The legacy obelisk next to her had cracked and was leaking blood, as if she had almost destroyed the legacy after defeating Oppa the final time.

It had been a titanic fight, but it was one she had won.

Ciceron appeared next to her and looked shocked and possibly angry, but Liz ignored him to spit at the half broken legacy.

She now understood why only those who had been rated as having strong wills were able to use that legacy. Anyone who was malleable to external influences would have turned into a beast from the woman's provocations and manipulations.

But just as Liz defeated Oppa, she had not subsumed the temptations.

Liz would have been more than happy to see the foul woman truly gone from the realm, but her overwhelming victory hadnt been enough to completely crush the legacy.

Only crack it.

But that was good enough.

***

Matt woke up and felt like a worn out dishrag that was so threadbare it was see through.

He wanted to vomit and cry, but forced himself to sit up and brush the dust off himself.

The legacy looked thin and vaguely see through near the peak of the obelisk.

Ciceron was quickly on him and looked to the now shattered obelisk, sighing before looking to Matt. I hope what you got out of this is worth it, as now there is one less legacy for the Empire as a whole for the next forty years at minimum. If we dont want the next person to shatter it, at least.

Matt hurt too much to really respond, and Ciceron seemed to understand that as he hoisted Matt to his feet. After a pause for Matt to steady himself, they moved in front of a door.

As the white haired man was leaving he heard him mutter, Three nearly ruined and we aren't even half way done yet.

It opened to a fantastic smell, and Matt immediately noticed three things.

One was Liz, who was just pulling out her chair to sit down.

The second was Aunt Helen bearing plates of her cooking, which smelled absolutely out of this realm.

The third was that Aster, now close enough to feel with their bond, was feeling as bad, if not worse than he did.