The Path of Ascension

Chapter 168

Emmanuel arrived in Doronines real space to find two spiritual senses Dicomatys, and a slightly weaker one he didn't recognize lock onto him.

He entered the atmosphere of the ecumenopolis without a ripple, despite how tempted he was to just punch out and blast the planet apart. He could simply remove a rival before the inevitable war even started.

But that wasnt how the game was played, and no matter the impending disaster, he was unwilling to haphazardly slaughter so many innocents. Besides, for as much as they despised the Empire, neither Dicomatys nor Janets profiles suggested they would do something so blatant, so he would continue to play nice.

Further, the Tier 47 planets, like this one, were the greatest treasures that each of the Great Powers had. They each had an out-sized impact on how quickly all of the other planets in the realm Tiered up. To destroy one would put the entire universe backwards. No one would allow even their bitterest rivals capital to take any permanent damage.

Janet appeared right before him with a teleport skill. The first thing Emmanuel noticed was that she rippled with power, confirming the unknown spiritual sense he felt alongside Dicomatys was her. She was sitting at the peak of Tier 49, and her spirit was packed full of essence, making her just one crunch of power away from achieving Tier 50.

Smiling, Emmanuel waited for her to speak.

Janet said nothing, but scanned Emmanuel up and down. As the silence stretched a full, tedious second, Emmanuel decided that any polite greeting protocols were clearly out of the picture. Instead, he brushed past her to head onto the Presidential Hill.

Janet attempted to lock him down with her Aspect, but Emmanuel slipped through its control with one of his Tier 25 Talents. The woman hadnt reached Tier 50 yet, and thus, she didnt understand. He didnt hold it against her.

As he was leaving, Janet finally deigned to speak, Unbelievable. Is that really how you treat your host?

Emmanuel sighed. Janet was full of her own newfound power, both political and cultivation, and was already hostile towards himself and his Great Power.

But he would be the bigger person. Madam President Elect, youre not my host for this event. Not yet. President Dicomaty is.

Brushing past her, he entered the area that was reserved for foreign Great Powers and found Head Elder Winter Hornet, the Sect's leader, sitting in the middle of the room. He was toying with a chess knight across from Chancellor Virgil, the Federation's leader but they weren't playing.

Both were blatantly hostile to the Empire, so he ignored them. Nothing he could say would ever sway their opinions, so he didnt bother.

Off to the side sat both Managing Director JR and First Shepherd Toby, the leaders of the Corporations and Monsters Collective, respectively. JR was a mundane raven who had managed to start cultivating on his own, eventually gaining sapience before becoming a crafter of great renown. Even in his bird form, he started making uniquely enchanted items that sold very well, and leveraged that into a massive business empire. It only grew larger and larger as his crafting and mercantile skills became more and more profound.

His business acumen and crafting abilities kept him moving up in the capitalistic battlefield that was the Corporations, until eventually, he was able to buy enough support for his Ascension to Tier 50. According to Harper, the intelligence community suspected that JR had also formed his own unique bloodline, but was obscuring it somehow to still appear as a Rank 1 bird. He had asked Aunt Helen to subtly dig into it the last time JR came to the border to, once again, propose to her, but she hadnt been able to confirm either way.

Still, the raven was living proof that Mara was an idiot, not because she started life as a bird, but simply because she was an idiot. As usual, he stayed in his bird form, moving the chess pieces with his beak and talons. Unnecessary, but JR disdained using his Concept to move things in his bird form. If he really needed hands, he just shifted to his human form briefly.

Toby was a World Turtle, or Zaratan as they were sometimes called. They had learned of the Rank 3 bloodline from one of the few people that had chosen to give up their lives in the higher realms and descend to theirs, if the half-broken [AI] data dumps were to be relied on. The scant shreds of data were the only information they had on Tobys kind in the entire realm.

The body he was chatting in right now held a weight and pressure that only one of his species could possess, comparable to the mass of a larger brown dwarf star, last Emmanuel had heard but it was always growing so that information might be out of date. The back of his shell contained its very own super planet, and all the relevant necessities for life, including landmasses, oceans, tides, weather patterns, and most importantly, rifts.

Fortunately, despite his own Tier being 50, his portable landmass was only Tier 22, making it effectively irrelevant in the Great Power's struggles.

The World Turtle was one of the few Rank 3 beast bloodlines in the realm, and the only one with a publicly known Rank 3. Though, it was hard to hide when his true body went anywhere. It had been a matter of study for a while after Toby reached Rank 3, to see how the world on his shell managed to exist and function without issues, even while he was in human form, but they had only been able to chalk it up to beast bloodline shenanigans.

Neither were hostile to the Empire, and Emmanuel nodded to them as he went and sat down next to Grandmaster Allister, his closest ally here and the leader of the Guilds. The man, as he usually did, had six metal balls orbiting behind his head.

Allister had offered his Talent to Emmanuel when he reached Tier 50, as part of a set of trade deals, but he had politely declined to push for better terms elsewhere. Ultimately, the superior deals hed secured were worth far more than the mans Tier 50 Talent, as it was largely useless without the entire set and so didnt mesh well with Emmanuels mix and match Talent style. Still, with war on the horizon, it might not be a terrible idea to at least reconsider the idea. He could hardly afford to leave power on the table, not if he were likely to fight.

Off to the side were Sword Saint Hastor and his own Tier 49 replacement, Aoife. The combination of the two was almost comical, with Hastor's slender six-and-a-half-foot frame and close-cut hair totally contrasting Aoifes five-foot even stature. She was nearly as wide as she was tall, and had more hair than head.

The woman was a part of the Clans royal bloodline, which consisted of the direct descendants of the founder of the Clans. They were human, or at least technically so... Probably. It wasnt entirely clear how hed done it, but the founder of the Clans had established his own bloodline, without a beast anywhere in his lineage.

Theories abounded among those who cared, but what Emmanuel found most likely was a treasure rumored to be findable in Tier 47 rifts, which could give the user a bloodline of their choosing, or strengthen an existing one. There were no Human Bloodlines, but something must have happened. The feat had never been replicated previously, or since. An item from the border of a higher realm, meant for use on a beast, but applied to a human instead? It made sense to him, but no one could confirm something that happened so long ago. Even Aunt Helen was just a chick when the Clans founder ascended let alone when he created his bloodline.

Then again, perhaps it was just a Talent. Stranger examples certainly existed, and especially at higher tiers, it was almost easier to list the things that Talents couldnt do. Regardless, they were an utterly unique existence among the Great Powers.

The dwarves, as they called themselves, were short at a maximum natural height of about 53. They sacrificed height for sturdy bodies that were far more physically resistant than a normal human body. Their bloodline abilities granted them greater durability, an innate understanding of metalworking, and some fairly interesting biology. Whether their metal skeletal structure actually assisted in them being better smiths was debatable, and no one could say if it was part of the bloodlines power. The only certainty was that the bloodline widely resulted in some of the best metalsmiths in the Realm.

Technically, they were considered beasts, but as their beast form was a humanoid one that could still procreate with baseline humans, no one truly considered them as such. Not that the clan royalty bred outside their own very often, but it did happen, if only when the baseline human married into the clan. Even then the candidate would have to possess enough bloodline natural treasures to ensure that the half-blood children could reach Tier 15 and purge their human blood altogether.

The dwarves technically had a distinct human form, as beasts did, but they were born in their dwarf beast forms, and never switched from them, even after Tier 15. They considered it a great shame to take human form, and at Tier 15, many went through a sacrifice to purge the ability altogether.

Aoife was known to Emmanuel, and he had sampled her Talent. She was a monster in a small package.

For her Tier 1 Talent, she was able to create and share a separate essence pool, which allowed one hundred others to link a small fraction of their allocated essence to a greater collective. Anyone of the collective could then tap into that power to give them a temporary boost, but Aoife could control the entire pool. If not actively used, the essence gave everyone a small, passive boost in power, but it was relatively minor when compared to the active boost which added the entire pool to her own power.

Then, her Tier 3 and Tier 25 followed the same patterns, but allowed her to promote her original one hundred followers to higher positions, and recruit another one hundred people into the same structure. Those recruited were then able to do the same, and could introduce a new level beneath them. She, as the originator, was able to tap into everyones essence pools for a short term but massive power bonuses.

He expected her Tier 50 to continue down that path as well, and she would then have one hundred million people to share essence with. That would make her a tough opponent, but he had secured Hastors and her promise to not interfere with the upcoming wars, as long as the Empire promised to defend the Clans if they were attacked during the same time period.

No one had been willing to fight Hastor and his ridiculous power, and so the Clans had expanded rapidly under his rule, but that earned them nearly as much ire as the Empire had for themselves.

Almost.

Aoife wasnt strictly an ally, but she was better than purely neutral.

Emmanuel was happy to have her outside the upcoming fights, if for no other reason than the fact that she had secured the loyalty of the other royal families in the Clans, thanks to her Talent. It made the Clans a far more united front than most Great Powers could ever produce.

Sadly, her Talent was like Allisters, a power set that only really worked well if each part of the whole was perpetually active. He did wonder what title it would lead her to choose when she took over.

Every Tier 50 leader of the Clans was awarded the title of Saint, but each new leader would declare what specifically they would be the Clans Saint of. It was usually based on some combination of their Domain, Talent, specializes, achievements, and what they hoped their reign would represent for their people. Hastor became the Sword Saint for plainly obvious reasons. With Aoifes Talent and contributions though, Emmanuel could see her taking the title in a few different directions.

Left to their own devices, the leaders of the Great Powers chatted and hammered out deals. Mostly, this centered around JR from the Corporations, as they acted as a neutral trading hub among the Great Powers. However, closer allies like himself and Allister could and did make trade agreements on their own.

Small-scale trading often occurred between the border worlds, but high Tier, rare, and heavily demanded items were considered too valuable to leave in the hands of low Tier middlemen. For such cargo, the Corporations would happily act as a secure go-betweens, offering their own guarantees for a small percentage cut of the sale.

That, if nothing else, earned them a steady stream of profit and connections. It also helped that no one was willing to attack the Corporations because they had some of the best mercenary companies in the Realm.

Blades for hire, they were willing to do damn near anything for the right price, including fighting in wars. They werent willing to throw their lives away, but they were willing to do anything short of suicide missions if the rewards were sufficient.

Part of their existence was to act as a backup to the Corporation's standing army. They were elite troops that saw more combat than most of the other Great Powers elite forces, and they fought like it. If the Corporations went to war, all of the mercenary companies were recalled and ordered to fight for their cause.

It was an interesting contradiction that a Great Power so centered around profit and corporate structures had fostered such a patriotic citizenry, but they had citizens that could give the Sects a run for their money in radical nationalism.

If they werent the second smallest Great Power, only ahead of the recently cut down Federation, they would have been exterminated by a collective alliance of the other Great Powers long ago. But they knew their position, and kept their expansion in line with the other Great Powers, always ensuring that they were in the bottom half of all the Great Powers in terms of size.

Still, they hit above their weight and were always willing to join wars if the price was right.

Emmanuel half expected them to join the upcoming war with the Empire in one way or another.

It wouldnt be malicious, but a simple cost-benefit analysis. The Corporations had turned being neutral middlemen into an artform. They were no ones allies yet everyones allies at the same time, depending on how valuable it would be. It meant they were never truly targeted, but neither could they be relied upon. Accordingly, he hoped that hed be able to find something that theyd find worthwhile enough to sit out the upcoming wars. JR wouldnt stop mercenaries from hiring themselves out, but Emmanuel at least wanted to keep the Great Powers standing army out of the fray as well.

A three versus two would be way more tenable than going against four factions.

It just depended on what the other side had promised them.

As they made their deals the entire ecumenopolis was celebrating Dicomatys impending Ascension, and Janets rise to Tier 50.

Even the vastly different people and city structure didnt stop Emmanuel from enjoying the festivities.

The whole ordeal reminded him of his fathers Ascension, and his own simultaneous rise to power.

A good memory, that. Even after a thousand years, he still cherished it, despite now fully understanding why his father was so willing to leave the realm behind.

The celebrations continued for over a year, with various special events sprinkled throughout. Most of the time, Emmanuel and the other Tier 50s were there as set pieces, and just lazed around looking pretty for the cameras. All the while, their senses blanketed the Republics nearest worlds, often poking around to ease their boredom.

When the time came and Janet finally prepared to break through to Tier 50, all of them went on high alert, scouring the area for anyone trying to use the Ascension to illegally break through to Tier 47. Thankfully, no one around seemed intent on violating the old treaties, and they felt the weight of the world settle on her.

Emmanuel smirked as his newest rival winced.

Few people really understood what standing at the peak of this pyramid really meant.

To reach Tier 50 was to become connected with the Realm itself. Literally. That was why each of them could sense the ripples of anyone breaking past Tier 45, from anywhere in the entire realm. Crossing the chasm between Tiers also granted a massive jump in power. To push oneself to the ceiling of Tier 49, and then smashing through to the other side, an outlandish quantity of essence was required. When all of that potential coalesced and activated during the breakthrough, the metamorphosis shattered reality, even for people at their level.

Everyone knew that the Tiers grew sharply steeper as you climbed, but Tier 50 loomed as a watershed that few could traverse, let alone stand against. His grandmother was a notable exception, but she was the exception that proved the rule. Tier 50s were an existence beyond what anyone else could even imagine. Even while smothering most of their own power to keep from accidentally, spontaneously ascending, they each commanded more than enough power to squash any given Tier 49, even one at the peak.

Such facts were why Emmanuel found Janets early posturing so adorably amusing.

The woman had posed zero threat... then.

Now, she did, but she was also just as restrained and connected as each of her new peers.

Though, he did wonder how her Talent may have expanded with this latest advancement.

Poor old Dicomaty had tried so very hard for so very long to conceal the woman from his reach. In the end though, the Republic had faltered just once, and one of his agents discovered her location. Within seconds of the notification, Emmanuel snatched whatever it was that led the Republics leader to value her so much.

All it took was a quick and undetectable trespass through time and space, using a strange amalgamation of unique Talents, a few anomalous items, and a dementedly cracked Tier 44 skill. The ability needed to be used exceedingly sparingly due to the steep cost, some unavoidable penalties that bordered on extortion, and how badly the strain ravaged his spirit. Not to mention, the catastrophic political fallout that would occur if anyone ever found out that he could slip into their territory without them noticing.

The entire mystery of her eye Talent unfolded before him with that quick, secret trespass, and they were all none the wiser.

Janets Tier 1 Talent created a tiny pocket world that she could send small objects into at will, and later retrieve.

At Tier 1, nothing living could enter the small space which made it no better than a spatial ring. But then, three key things changed at Tier 3. First, she gained the ability to also safely send plants and non-sapient animals inside. Second, the volume of space started slowly growing and becoming more malleable. Third, the passage of time within her private world could be flexed to pass either quicker, or slower than the outside.

By Tier 24, she had created a small planet that even Turstal would envy. Yet, Tier 25 brought boons that vaulted her powerset up to a truly interesting and imposing level.

Her nation immediately covered up her existence, and had arguably done an admirable job of doing so. But once the Guilds caught a lingering hint, and let him know what to look for, his intelligence department began finding traces of an exorbitant and sophisticated terraforming and colonization initiative. It all seemingly led not to a place, but a person.

In hindsight, the reason should have been obvious, but it seemed too ridiculous to seriously consider, given the sheer volume of resources at play.

At Tier 25, her Talent had expanded explosively in size and scope. The minor pocket planet stretched enough to match any one of the Empires viscounties, and other sapient life was now no longer barred from entry. Clearly, the Republic had immediately began filling her Talent with the greatest designer star systems they could manage, along with a correspondingly elite populace.

As far as he could tell, the planets and heavenly bodies inside were limited to half of Janets Tier. Like with Toby, it didnt give the Republic any massive advantage in high Tier worlds, so it didnt lead to any open hostilities. Unfortunately, there were clear signs that even before Tier 25, she had learned how to absorb any attacks that would hit her through her Talent.

Her ability to do so was limited by her spiritual strength, but Dicomaty had spared no expense to empower her. Any and every natural treasure that increased spiritual strength that they could find was purchased for her. Everything indicated that she should now be capable of absorbing most attacks up to her own Tier without issue. Paired with a planetary systems worth of resources and support staff being with her at all times, Janet would make for an interesting opponent.

But having her Talent already, he knew precisely how it worked, and how best to beat it.

Even a star system could only hold so many attacks before it started to stress the bounds of her Talent, and one just needed to overwhelm it. In particular, he would need to flood the space with things that an entire support populace in accelerated time couldnt clear out faster than he could send in.

He had more than a few Talent combinations ready and practiced, each built around cracking the womans Talent like an egg.

Her Tier 50 Talent might change things in ways he couldnt easily predict, since she was now well past the Tier where he could steal her Talent without her knowing and resisting. But once she used her new Talent, he and his spies could analyze any changes to help identify the new factor. No matter what it was, at least one of his pre-prepared counters should still do the trick. And if none of them would well, he already had an eye on a few up and coming Talent sets which might.

Examining Janet, he watched as the Realm wrapped its bands of restrictions on her and tried to expel her. This lower Realm was not fond of being connected with Tier 50s. It wanted them gone.

Her Aspect flicked out and shoved those restrictions away, preventing her from instantly Ascending.

Nodding internally, he and all the other Tier 50s now turned their attention back to Dicomaty. Janet was connected to the Realm and now it was Dicomaty's time to leave.

There was always a risk of the old ruler trying to stick around, giving one nation two Tier 50s. Which is exactly why they all gathered for these events. No one was willing to allow one Great Power to hold twice as many trump cards.

Too much power would shift. Ideally, the old ruler would Ascend first, to make it guaranteed, but no ruler was willing to Ascend before their heir first reached Tier 50, and could no longer be snuffed out like a candle with pure cultivation so this was how it was handled.

Seeing that his replacement was settled, Dicomatys Aspect retracted, and the fabric of existence started to try and yank him up. The other leaders didnt even allow a pause for a last-minute goodbye. Not even a second of hesitation could be tolerated. If he paused for even a heartbeat, they would all collectively attack.

Tier 50s were like a log trying to float to the top of a pool of water, but there was a layer of oil on top of that, and the Tier 50s naturally rested on that breakpoint. If they splashed around too much, they would slip through and ascend to the next Realm.

That was why they resisted the bonds of the Realm, and never used all their power. It kept them far away from that barrier, and far from automatically ascending. And if they didnt want to die from a combined attack of seven other Tier 50s, then they needed to allow themselves to be raised up forcefully.

Dicomaty started to float into the sky, and his clothes burned away as the combined power of the realms consumed anything not unshakably bound to his very spirit, typically only Tier 45 or higher growth items.

Only his left bracer remained intact as he started to fade, and the barrier between this Realm and the next started to part for the former President of the Republic.

Emmanuel felt the power and debated trying to steal Dicomatys Talent mid-ascension. He only had the idea on his way over, while thinking about how he wanted both Dicomatys and Hastors Talents. He wasnt even sure if it would work, but it was an interesting idea that he felt the need to try, now that he had the notion.

It would be a provocation of the highest order, but he really wanted to risk it. He was half sure that if he timed it right, he could get the Talent set as they were being upgraded by the ascension process. And he doubted that the man would have his defenses ready for a heavy strike with his Talent.

It might just work.

Sadly, Dicomaty would have enough time to send a message back if Emmanuel tried anything of the sort.

In the end, Dicomatys Talent wasnt combat-oriented, so despite being useful it was not worth the risk of pissing off the other leaders. He never deliberately tried to take their Talents, and they didnt gang up on him for having too much versatility. An uneasy peace, like everything else about their relationships.

As Dicomaty fully disappeared, a wash of essence and mana flooded Doronines surface, but it was a thimble trying to douse a wildfire in comparison to the planets lacking mana situation.

That was why the Tier 50s preferred ascenders go to low Tier worlds, where they would instantly hoist them up a few Tiers, instead of wasting their Ascension on the capitals.

Dicomatys Ascension meant another round of celebrations and swearing of loyalties, but the other leaders werent needed for that.

They would have normally left, but Hastor was going to ascend as soon as Janet finished her duties, so they waited around for the short two years that it took. Dicomatys senators all went to various locations and ascended, leaving Janet her own fresh power structure that she had chosen.

And just like that the changeover was complete.

Once they entered Westmorra, The Clans capital, they settled on the only landmass on the planet that wasnt covered by a city or rift location. The large island was a perfect recreation of Killians birthplace. It was full of mountains that had degraded to hills over billions of years, with verdant valleys that housed a scattering of herders.

Emmanuel immediately noticed the young dwarves battling it out between two of the mock cities as they participated in their war games. The entire island was limited to Tier 15 and under royal Clans heirs, who were selected to participate in the war games, and the herders who honored Killians earliest profession.

The Tier 45 cattle were a delicacy, hard to even buy for the top royalty in the clans, as only a few were allowed to be slaughtered every year. Most of that allocation went to the highest Tier leaders of the clans.

Technically, each clan had its own herds, but in practice, the Tier 50 controlled the distribution of said beef.

Emmanuel had been given some as a gift from Hastor at his father's Ascension, and he had to admit, it was quite good. It melted on the tongue and could be eaten raw with no issue, if one wished, but traditionally it was cooked.

The other oddity of Westmorra was its floating islands, and they passed through a few that were hovering around the capital island. Emmanuel knew they were home to the clans whose youths were participating in the war games, as that was the only time the citadels were allowed to approach the island capital.

Each floating island was a hilly region each clan brought their promising youth to after a certain age. It was tradition to encourage a connection to their ancestors, and to escape the sprawling cities that most grew up in.

When they landed, seventy-two dwarf clans and three human clans met them, and went to one knee to welcome Hastor and Aoife. The three human clans were Killians concession to humanity, and their representation amongst the Clans' upper management.

There were to be three clans of humans at all times by custom and law, because despite all of the Clans royalty being of dwarven lineage, humanity still made up ninety-eight percent of the Clans' population. When one of the human clans finally married enough dwarves to be considered a proper clan, a new family would be raised to prominence from the human population to maintain the minimum human clans.

When everyone stood, Emmanuel felt abnormally tall amongst the dwarves, and even humans. The latter were all above Tier 15, and had shortened themselves to the legal minimum of 55, while most of the dwarves were at their natural heights, varying from 410 to 53. Emmanuel, at a natural 62, felt like a giant.

Even Hastor was an unusual sight among the shorter humans and dwarves, as he had never chosen to shorten himself from his natural height, as it would have interfered with his swordsmanship. And no one would ask the man who had reached every Tier through inspiration to interrupt his growth for something as simple as how tall he was. But all the other humans had brought their height down to the legal limits, to better fit in with the Great Powers cultural standards for beauty and high social status.

Hastor and Aoifes preparations were just as numerous as Dicomaty and Janets had been, and took another three years.

The first year consisted of the final battle between the two remaining clans in the youth war, and surprisingly enough, the oldest human clan was the victor.

Emmanuel had to wonder if that was a concession to Hastor and his own humanity, but considering the human clan had all married dwarves, and their children were dwarves, and said clan was about to become a proper clan, he doubted it. If they had wanted to make a statement, they would have made it so the newer human clan with actual human descendants was the victor.

When they won, their human clan leader voluntarily stepped down with all the other remaining human ancestors of the clan, and allowed the younger generation to take over. It was the final step for the human clan to become a proper dwarf clan, allowing Hastor to raise a new human clan and bring the distribution to seventy-three and three.

Emmanuel and Hastor eventually found a few moments to be alone, and completed their deal.

Emmanuel wanted to cheer, but contented himself with a whistle.

The other leaders would hate him for it, but they knew it was inevitable for him to get someone elses Tier 50 Talent.

And oh, was it a good thing. Hastor was a monster for his Tiering up with only inspirations, but he would have been strong without it. His Talent set wasn't what set him apart.

Emmanuel took the time to quantify it, and listed it out as the Empire Talents scanners did for his perusal. He was just more used to it that way, and his AI did it almost automatically at this point, for all new Talents he gathered.

Tier 1 Talent: Instinctive understanding of swords and bladed weapons.

Tier 3 Talent: Bladed weapons you wield and any enchantments they have are empowered to match with an equivalent weapon of your Tier.

Tier 25 Talent: You may pre-cast a skill into a blade you wield for storage, and may freely cast it later. Blade-specific skills cast this way have strongly increased effect.

Tier 50 Talent: You perfectly control what your sword cuts.

Finally, seeing exactly what Hastors Talents did, he was more impressed with the older man. Everyone thought he had a Talent for inspirations, but Emmanuel was feeling the proof inside his own spirit.

Hastor was just that good.

The Tier 1 was something Emmanuel had a few dozen variations of, but he still equipped it to see if he learned anything new. Talents werent all the same, no matter how similar their effects. Hastor's Tier 1 gave him no new knowledge though, and he moved on to the Tier 3.

It was damn useful. Even he only had a Tier 48 weapon, and its enchantments were limited by its materials. If the Talent upgraded the weapon, he might be able to swap it out and keep the effects. Hed have to test with a lower Tier weapon, as Tier 48 weapons were rare, since the metals were only gathered from rare Tier 47 rift rewards. With the way the Talent felt in his spirit, it seemed like even the metal would be upgraded, which made for some interesting possibilities.

Hed also need to see if he could swap out the Tier 25 and keep a skill stored in the weapon. That could make the Talent incredibly useful, but once again, he wasnt going to risk his own weapon on a test that could fail in a million ways.

The Tier 50 was the real treasure. It was a combat-oriented Tier 50 Talent, instead of his father's past and future sight.

Now that Emmanuel had this, he could fight without any loss against the other Tier 50s. Instead of always being on the defensive, he could go on the attack with builds that perfectly countered each of them.

Hastor may be leaving, but Emmanuel became a lot more dangerous.

It only cost him defending the Clans if they were attacked. Not a small price, but one he was happy to pay.

Before they left, Emmanuel asked Hastor a question that surprised the man. Laughing, he agreed. Hastor even said that hed make a distraction so the others didnt notice Emmanuel using his Talent.

Two years later, Hastor and Aoife took to the skies and they all watched as the young dwarven woman broke through to Tier 50.

There was nothing unusual about that, but what shocked all of them all was that Hastor spoke.

From my awakening to now, I surmounted every Tier with an Inspiration. Many have asked if I had one ready to reach Tier 51 for when I ascended, but I never answered them.

Hastor smiled at the other Tier 50s, one by one. Each and every recipient felt a chill wash over them.

Really, the question everyone should have asked is; why would I wait? Hastors smile widened. It wasnt overtly malicious, but Emmanuel and everyone else immediately had their weapons drawn at the ready.

Hastor pointed his sword at the sky.

I am The Sword.

The world rumbled, and all the essence on the planet started to rush into Hastor. It wasnt enough, and the Realm opened up and started to spew essence into Hastor like a flood. But that wasn't all. A power greater than an Aspect unfurled from Hastor.

He had established his Authority.

Everyone knew the basic requirements for a Domain.

A Concept to reach Tier 5.

An Intent to reach Tier 25.

An Aspect to reach Tier 50.

Known to far fewer, an Authority was needed to reach Tier 75, and Hastor had just created his in the lower Realm, at Tier 51. A stunning twenty-four Tiers early.

His power was quite literally beyond this Realm, and crushed down on them like the pressure of standing on a sun.

At the same time, precious little of the essence flowed into the planet around Hastor. He was like a bottomless whirlpool as he broke into Tier 51.

When the torrent ended, the bounds of the Realm started zealously rejecting Hastors existence, and he began ascending automatically. Still, they could all feel that he didnt use his Authority to resist it. If he had, he might have lingered, which was a horrifying thought.

As he faded away, he lowered and brandished his sword, sending a dark premonition through everyone's spirits. Hastor was in position to unleash one final attack. His Authority hung over them like an executioners blade.

Hastors last words shaved at their ears instead of his blade, though.

Youll always know that I had time for the final strike. That you were all spared.

Hearing that, Emmanuel threw his Talent at Hastor's fading figure over and over again, trying to catch his Talent as it was upgraded by the Ascension. This was the perfect time to test his theory that he could, in fact, pickpocket a Talent mid-Ascension. Hastor has said he would create a distraction for Emmanuel but he hadn't expected something so large.

The first few times, his Talent grabbed nothing.

He was writing it off as a failed experiment when just as Hastor's nude form and blade were nearly gone, his Talent gripped onto something. The copy of Hastors Talent inside his spirit resonated with its twin, and then morphed as an updated version slotted in place.

As everyone else stood horrified at Hastors naked threat, Emmanuel was reveling in the successful execution of his plan.

A few microseconds passed in the time it took to understand the changes. When he conceptualized them, his face began shifting until he was grinning like Mara or Leon. The last of his self-discipline was spent barely withholding a cackle from escaping his throat.

Tier 1 Talent: Instinctive understanding of swords and bladed weapons. Inherently understand the fighting style of opponents wielding bladed weapons as well.

Tier 3 Talent: Bladed weapons you wield, and any enchantments they have, are empowered to match with an equivalent weapon of your Tier. The effect lingers for hours equal to your Tier.

Tier 25 Talent: You may pre-cast a skill into a blade you wield for storage, and may freely cast it later. Blade-specific skills cast this way have increased effect. Stored skills grow stronger with time, based on how long the blade is equipped.

Tier 50 Talent: You perfectly control what your sword cuts. You may uncut what you have cut.

As his own thoughts spun, Aoife hastily performed damage control with the other Tier 50s, who now took their recent panic out on her. With time for one decisive strike, a Tier of greater power, and an Authority, Hastor could have slaughtered all of them. But he chose not to.

That caused the invincible rulers of quadrillions to feel fear for the first time in who knew how long, and they didnt like it.

Emmanuel couldn't care less.

He had taken an evolved Talent set from someone Ascending.

One by one, he pondered the implications of his four new treasures.

The Tier 1 and Tier 25 upgrades were strong, but not insane. He already had multiple Talents sets that could produce similar or better effects as needed.

The Tier 50 upgrade was interesting, but of still limited use to Emmanuel. Instinctively, he also felt that the Talent still had a strict time limit on its uncutting, which stunted the applications further.

Additionally, the Talent needed to be kept continuously active from the cut to the uncut for it to work. Though, seeing as he only possessed two Tier 50 Talents, he would not be swapping it out when in combat.

The true prize, what he really wanted, was the Tier 3 evolution. For someone who swapped out their Talents, it was perfect. He could empower a sword before battle, and still reap the benefits of this Tier 3 Talent, even after he swapped it out. The intended purpose of the Talent was probably Hastor outfitting the people around him but it worked perfectly for Emmanuel and his own abilities.

With enough creativity, almost every single one of his builds could potentially benefit. He would need to have a massive armory of swords crafted with enchantments specifically designed for each build or counter he could ever need. Since they could be low Tier weapons, the cost involved would be almost nonexistent.

Everyone said that Ascension upgraded the body, which made them physically stronger than those born on a higher Realm. It would empower the spirit, which encompassed Talents. And it would strengthen their Domains, their Concept, Intent, Aspect, and for Hastor, his Authority. But he hadnt realized how much stronger it would make each of them.

If the Talent upgrade was anything to judge by, the benefit was substantial.

He couldnt wait for his own Ascension, and was kicking himself for not trying this before with his own ascenders. Even just getting their Tier 1 through Tier 25 Talents upgraded would have been worth the trip, if they were all as strong as this.

Emmanuel now had a Tier 50 sword for fifty hours at a time. Hed still need to do some testing, but he was sure it would work as he wanted now.

As the other Tier 50s left Westmorra with simmering bellies full of anger, he left with a smile and a new plan.

War was coming.

But now he was ready.