The Path of Ascension

Chapter 189

Matt had many things to say about Young Mistress Blazing Hammer. Some of them, he could even say around her.

She was an excellent smith, and had a way to mix common metals of different Tiers to make stronger alloys. She was a fast thinker, and could come up with a dozen suggestions about how to improve upon his plan.

Those were the good parts.

Still, Matt couldnt stop himself from contemplating bashing her head in every time she opened her mouth.

She was obstinate, contrary, and only deigned to speak when giving him negative feedback.

If he suggested plan A, she suggested plan B. When he took some of her ideas from plan B to make a better plan, she then changed her suggestions to plan C. It was beyond infuriating.

While she never sabotaged the plan, she was more of a hindrance than Matt would ever want for an assistant or partner.

However, all of her suggestions, or rather criticisms, were good, which only made things worse.

Things did get better when a man with an otter bloodline from the Republic came in on their second day of work.

Isaac was an odd sort who seemed too soft and nice to have made it this far in Minkalla on his own. That alone was a glaring warning that the adorable persona he put on was just a facade.

The otter-man was a competent enchanter with a Talent that allowed him to bend some rules with anything he crafted, which helped them finalize their design.

Originally, Matt had wanted a more typical drone design before changing to a plane shaped style, but that led to an issue regarding how to recharge the drones.

They could have used a Tier 14 mana stone to power each scout plane, but that would have been far too wasteful, as each mana stone held 25,000 mana. To make matters worse, Minkalla didn't drop any of the precious containers of mana, and none of the winter aligned delvers would have brought thousands of rechargeable mana stones for the delve into Minkalla. Let alone any of the other participants that had reached the courtly warfare floor. Matt had brought in two dozen between their various storage items, but that wasnt nearly enough, and he wasnt going to set himself on fire to keep others warm.

Isaac, thankfully, had a solution. He was able to take normal materials and enchant them to hold some mana. After a bit of testing, rocks made of quartzite ended up being the best compromise of availability vs mana storage ability.

This solution completely relied on his Talent, and the conversion rate of stored mana was only fifteen percent, but it worked, which was all that mattered.

Matt had initially wanted to use a more complicated charging method of refueling that would allow the planes to recharge off the ambient mana, but with Isaacs faux-rechargeable mana stones awful recharge rate, it had ballooned the size and weight of the scout to an unacceptable degree. They simply lost too much range and speed with the additional weight for those modifications to be worthwhile, so that idea had been scrapped.

After a week of work between the three of them, they had a working design.

The final scout looked a lot like a dragonfly, with two long pairs of wings, a long tail, and four legs reaching down under its fuselage. The design was the culmination of their compromise on how to solve the multiple design flaws that they had encountered.

With this new design, they could use a simple and well-balanced blueprint for a charging station with the appearance of a tree. The drone, while using its legs to dangle on a branch, could then use its tail to connect with one of the many charging points on the trees trunk. A traditional plane design couldn't have done anything of the sort, and wouldve needed far more room to land.

The legs of the scout plane acted like drone flyers, but they were only extended when the plane landed to refuel on the recharging tree. They were inefficient, but the ability to hover was worth the added complexity to the design.

Normally, the drone had its legs retracted, and it used a small propeller to push itself forward. When combined with the fantastic glide ratio, the drone had a range of about one hundred miles round trip.

Matt had to admit that a large portion of that range was thanks to Young Mistress Blazing Hammers contributions. She knew a special mixture of bronze that could be spread paper thin and was as light as a leaf, which allowed them to reduce the weight of the drones large wings considerably.

A few lesser modifications to the body of the frame reduced the weight further, but considering that they would need to make all of the drones themselves, the cranky craftswoman made a much simpler bronze instead. She was willing to share this iteration so others could do the mass production of the bodies while she worked solely on the wings.

With the first prototype completed, they went and tested it outside the city.

He was sure that it would have been comical to anyone watching to see three humans flying next to a plane, but they needed to test their design, and the best place to observe it was from right next to it in the sky.

Things were both better and worse than they had hoped.

The scout plane worked, and from their limited test, it would accomplish its designated tasks well enough, but they ran into two problems.

The enchantment that functioned as the drones eyes had no depth perception, so all of its readings came back as flat images that took a lot of computational power to piece together. Their only recourse was to have the plane make several passes over the same area to get a good topography of the land, which was entirely too inefficient.

To make matters worse, there was another, more pressing problem.

The transmission range of the scaled-up formation was only five miles.

With a total flying range of a hundred miles, that was beyond unacceptable.

So, back they went to the drawing board.

This time, it only took them a day to solve the issues.

Instead of adding more sensors, they decided to have groups of three planes fly together and share data. That way, if an enemy attacked and took down any one of the planes, they could immediately start evasive maneuvers and fly back to the charging tree, where they could report the aggregated information.

With the three drones flying in formation, they got much better images and details of the surroundings.

They also decided to use the charging stations as massive relay stations, where once every hour, they could send a burst of information back to the city.

Making and testing everything took another two days, but people were eager to help with the mass production so they could earn Favor, so things sped up after that initial test run.

When their first tree went up, Matt felt like he got hit with a truck as the Favor washed over him.

Young Mistress Blazing Hammer and Isaac got lesser amounts, but even that reduced amount was enough to send them into the top rankings of Favor.

Matt checked his boon and raised an eyebrow as he felt what he had earned. Your ice powers are strengthened, and you resist damage from it. You can see the heat given off by any intruders inside Winters domain. You are immune to the cold while in Winters service.

Looking around, Matt saw nothing different, but then again, he didnt expect anyone to be a spy this early on in the floor. There just hadnt been enough time for anyone from the other factions to get this far into Winter and disguise themselves.

Back at the base, they set up the main relay station to the recruiting room. They didnt have the sophisticated computers needed to run the mapping programs, so it fell on the eight men and women sitting around to use their limited AI to do the heavy lifting.

Matt found it interesting that Minkalla allowed them to save and share their maps of the floor, as normally it stopped those sorts of functions, but Matt assumed that the second they left this floor, those recordings would vanish.

Sadly, they needed thousands of the charging trees, so he and the dozens of others were locked away, smelting, forging, and enchanting each and every plane for their side.

Even the massive Favor they earned for each deployment of a tower didnt change the fact it was boring, repetitive work.

***

Susanne stalked through the snow and kept her bastard sword in a small dagger size.

Something was near.

She could sense it.

Liz and Aster were spread out around her, but the Fae squad they were scouting with seemed oblivious to the sense of danger approaching.

Susanne knew to trust the upgrade to her spiritual perception, and had warned her partners.

Off to the left, she sensed something, and trusting her instincts, she fully expanded her greatsword and cast [Wind Cutter] and [Hypersonic Edge]

The enhanced spell cut through two trees before cutting the Fall Fae that had been hiding behind the second one, in half.

Their squads sergeant called out. Ambush! Ambush! Ambush! Defensive position on me!

With that, the rest of the Winter Fae raised their shields and huddled around the sergeant.

Susanne and the other two didnt bother with turtling up.

Offense was the best defense.

She caught a glimpse of Aster as the small fox raced through the snow and trees, and a wave of snow controlled by the fox rose up and crashed down on patch of forest. As it landed, she heard screams before the ice started to turn red.

Liz was refraining from using obvious blood skills until they knew that there were no other delvers with the fall group, but a stream of fire came out of her hands and set two of the trees before them ablaze.

Susanne smiled as she found what she had been looking for.

The Fall sergeant.

This Fae was larger, and had better armor that spoke to her of power.

She didnt hesitate as she sent a probing [Mana Slash] out, but the Fae contemptuously blocked the strike with his shield that glowed with enchantments of its own.

Her smile grew as she activated her Concept internally. Power flooded her limbs, but it kept climbing as her growth armor started to feed and reflect that same power over again. Her strength went through the roof, and with a single push off the ground, she rocketed forward.

Snow exploded from around her, almost like she used the spatial portion of her Concept, and she seemed to teleport in front of the sergeant.

Her greatsword came around directly at the still glowing shield, and she locked down the space around her so she could put all of her physical might into the blow.

The air cracked as her sword broke through the shield as if it was little more than kindling.

The arm, body, and armor behind the shield offered no more resistance than the shield had, and the sergeant was cleaved in half.

Susanne looked down at the body as Genesis Energy and Favor rushed into her.

That had been profoundly disappointing.

Liz and Aster sauntered over to her, and the fox, in a more serious mood than usual, asked, Was he really that weak?

Susanne bent down to scoop up the skill shard and nodded. They said that the sergeants were decently strong, but that was just disappointing. I didn't even use [Mana Strength] or [Hypersonic Edge].

She didnt recognize the skill after checking it, so she handed it to Liz and then Aster, but neither of them had the skill in their Tier 14 databases. There were just too many possible options for them to have every skill recording stored away.

As Susanne stared at the skill shard, she let a part of her mind wander.

She would have preferred to have a more challenging fight, but it was still early on in the floor's life cycle, and she knew that shed just need to be patient.

The scouting groups were small, and if what she had heard was true, the factions were always sending a stream of small squads to harass the other teams. Sadly, none of them ever came back, so they had no idea just how far away the other seasons territories were.

They could all be a dozen miles away, or thousands.

Susanne suspected that the truth was closer to the second option. This was Minkalla, and it was built around Tier 14s. A few thousand miles was nothing to anyone at their level.

Still, she couldn't wait until they encountered more than the weakest of groups.

To that end, they needed to set up Matts not so little contraption. Once that was done, they could start setting out on more targeted missions.

Missions that she intended to go on.

Susanne wasnt a crafter like Liz or Matt.

Her blade was her instrument, and they were only useful when blood needed to be shed.

Putting the unknown skill shard away, they continued their mission. When they reached a hill, the group of Fae started to spread out and cleared the trees from the top of the hill.

At the same time, Susanne helped Liz set up the scouting tree.

The thing was massive at twenty feet tall, and it housed dozens of drones that started to take off in teams of three, but they had to spend some of their personal mana to start the arrays that were built into the thing.

She could actually feel the small movement of ambient mana as it was pulled into the tower.

As the drones lifted off, she connected with the tower and started analyzing the map that the scouts began to draw. It started as an undetailed mess, but it slowly grew in clarity as the sets of planes flew off in their designated patterns.

Seeing that everything was working as it should, Susanne turned to Liz and asked, Ready for part two?

Liz pulled out the compass and laughed. Let's see what we can find.

Aster chortled and said, I'm going to be stuffed full of natural treasures by the end of this!

***

Matt checked his notes as the third tower was dismantled and taken away by another team.

There were fifteen of them now making the scout planes, and the information was streaming in.

His AI was currently in charge of aggregating the information as the drones flew overhead.

He hadnt done it intentionally, but his AI was the only one that could buck the shackles that Minkalla placed on AI, and tracking people took a lot more power than building terrain models.

Tracking people and identifying whether or not they were hostile was much harder, so the active portion of their mapping was left up to him. As something of a minor bonus, it was trivial to notice the newcomers as they trickled in. They were the ones staring at the halo he perpetually had on. It had been a literal headache to figure out the right balance between Concept-powering his AI and not draining his Willpower at an unsustainable rate, but fortunately, even a minor trickle was sufficient for Minkalla to retract most of its restrictions.

He was working on making a program that his, or preferably someone else's pad could run, even if it was weaker or slower, when Bradley and his wife Jill walked in.

Bradley smiled and stuck out a hand. Hello, White. Nice to see that everythings working. Our end is loving the trickle of Favor from the map using our AI. It's a small, but steady source.

With his boon mostly retracted, Matt could see him grin. It got so good that I was ousted by a few others who wanted their turns at free Favor.

Jill stuck out her hand and interrupted her husband. Yes, yes, you're sooooo magnanimous, allowing the little people to earn some favor just as the amount given out is starting to dwindle.

Bradleys grin turned rueful, but Jill didn't pause. Beyond that, we wanted to talk to you. Mind if we take a walk?

Matt considered that suggestion. They were from the Empire, but with no oversight, they might be trying to attack and kill him, and while he didnt get that vibe from either of them, that didnt mean much. While their records were squeaky clean from what Luna had been able to gather about them, it didnt mean they had good intentions.

Still, he didnt think that this was a trap.

With his mind made up, he readied himself to cast [Cracked Phantom Armor] if either made a move. Jill wasnt a primary assassin, but he didnt discount the possibility that she had swapped her proficiency for the public eye.

As they walked through the crowded streets to a portion of the city that functioned as a frozen over park, Jill finally spoke once they seemed to be alone.

We think you and your squad are good.

It wasn't a question, so he kept silent.

Bradley filled in the growing silence. Let's cut to the point. We are strong. Very strong. This floor is also a disaster for people like us. We had a massive lead against the others, but now, the top million or so will get bottled up here. While we might be able to pull back ahead, we're going to have much stiffer competition going forward.

Matt raised an eyebrow. Are you planning to team up?

Jill snorted. No. Well, not really. We're thinking about making a break for the enemy cities the second we get their locations. Try and get an alpha strike in on them before they gather too much power. With your drone set up, we think it's possible to take and then hold a decisive lead.

Bradley nodded along with his wife's words before adding, After the third floor, all of us Tier 12s got our three bottom Tiers of cultivation converted as the floor interactions dropped the Genesis Energy down to the first Tiers. It essentially means that we have a distinct power advantage against all of the Tier 13s and Tier 14s, but their numbers will beat us back further and further. While theyve had only one or two Tiers of essence converted to Genesis Energy, they have more cultivation overall, which helps them get a bit more immediate power out of the combination of the floors.

What they said tracked, but he was overstating the issue currently. Most of the higher Tiers who managed to get down here this fast did so by rushing through the floors, because the Concept reward from the fourth exit reward was all they cared about. That would change the longer the fighting went on, which underscored their need for winning quickly. Hearing that the higher Tiers got less than them was exactly what normally happened when those two floors came in the same cycle, and it perfectly fit with Minkallas habit of rewarding lower Tiers more than higher Tiers. After all, if Minkalla converted some static percent of essence, Tier 14s would get much bigger rewards than lower tiers with their greater amounts of total essence, and Minkalla wasnt so kind. Liz, Aster, and Susanne each got Tiers 1 through 4 converted into Genesis Energy, but he had gotten Tiers 1-5 converted with his better reward from the Genesis Cultivation challenge.

Interesting information, but back to the main point. You want to try and take over the floor quickly? That seems less than optimal. Id really like to get enough Genesis Energy to upgrade a growth item. As the fourth floor, it's going to give it a new ability next Tier.

Jill sighed, but agreed. Id love to get that reward, but with courtly warfare being the fourth floor, this is going to turn into a longstanding stall if we don't do something. Honestly, the chances that we succeed are minuscule, but neither of us are content with getting stalled like this.

Matt fully agreed there. We worked hard to get this far ahead. Too far to get screwed like this. I agree. I just don't see how it's possible. I'm a strong blademage, but I dont see how we can take the cities and claim the floor that quickly. We just can't move with that kind of precision. If history repeats itself, well have a few thousand miles to travel between cities.

Jill withdrew a flat disk and handed it to Matt. This is how. Don't share it around, but we got this as a reward on the second floor. She flashed a smaller copy of the disk that was hand-sized. We aren't enchanters, but we think this will bring anyone with the smaller disk to the larger one. Youre the best enchanter we have in Winter right now, and youre Empire, so were willing to show this to you.

Matt took the disks and inspected them. As the archer said, they seemed to be linked and able to bring one to the other. He also noticed something immediately.

It was a single-direction teleport, and would take a few seconds to work.

If there were three or four of these, they might be able to do something special, but the range of the disk was less than a foot, meaning that it was meant to teleport a single person.

Using his AI and Concept, Matt checked the formation and ran some simulations.

I think I can expand the disks to take more people, but it will exponentially increase the cost and possibly reduce the range. It also might make the transition dangerous.

Bradley sighed. What we feared. We hoped you might be able to do something more. We can still plan around it, but we wanted to bring an army in close to the other seasons' cities and take them by surprise. It would certainly beat having to march thousands of miles.

Matt nodded. I get it, and appreciate the trust you showed in me. From one Pather to another, I won't betray it.

That earned him nods and lightened the mood. They had clearly suspected his origin as a Pather, but him telling them bridged the gap between them a little.

They might be working with all the other Great Powers' people, but fellow delvers from their own Great Power were more trustworthy than foreigners. Especially when he considered the upcoming war.

As they walked back to the workshop, Matt started to make some changes to his plans.

Even a single person teleporting to a single spot could be incredibly useful if they played their cards right.

If he appeared inside a city and unleashed a portion of his talismans?

He could use Sword Rain, or his Firestorm, the talisman version of [Meteor Shower].

He could do a lot of damage if they could get that other disk inside an important location. Imagine if they could find a way into high command for the other Courts?

He just needed to figure out a way to use it without confirming he was Quill to the other Pathers.

They would know the talisman Pather was inside Minkalla this cycle, but they wouldnt know who he was, or if he had even reached this floor yet. But if he used either of those skills, he would confirm it to them. And while he might trust Bradley and Jill enough to confirm that he was a Pather, he didnt trust them enough to give away his hidden identity.

It would inevitably come out, but he wanted to muddy the waters as much as possible before then.

Matt needed to plan and talk to the rest of the team as soon as they got back from their latest scouting mission.

If nothing else, he needed to increase the production rate of the scout planes. They needed to find their enemies before they could strike, after all.

***

Aster pranced around the city.

Everything was so pretty.

A winter wonderland.

Her very being resonated with the place.

The mana welcomed her like a chilly embrace, and even the Fae that the others thought were odd seemed normal to her.

It was a second home for her.

And like anyone in a new home, she explored.

It wasnt like she had anything better to do. Matt was busy with his work and making more scout planes. Liz was making potions out of the herbs and natural treasures that they found in the snow, while Susanne was working on expanding her Concept.

So, she wandered the city on her own. But even that quickly grew old. More delvers appeared and filled the streets, but they rarely held her attention, and the Fae were only so interesting. Without anything to keep her fancy, she turned her attention to the palace.

Something inside called to her.

She wasnt sure what it was, but after sending a message to Matt, she jumped over the wall and started to explore the palace grounds.

Exquisite trees made from the ice itself grew and sparkled in the sunlight.

Aster sat and watched them for nearly ten minutes, which was enough time for Matt to arrive.

She wasnt dumb enough to investigate a new place without help, and he really needed the break.

Seeing her bond, she jumped into his arms and headbutted his chin. Youre here now. Perfect! Let's explore.

She could feel his frustration, but he didnt let it affect him as he said, Aster, I am far too busy for this right now.

Aster rolled her eyes.

Matt still treated her like a child.

She swished her tail a little at the thought. It was nice to be pampered, but he needed to trust her more. She may act childish, but she knew how to be an adult. She just didnt need or want to. Matt was always there to hold up the sky if it fell.

Something is calling to me here. We need to explore. Trust me!

She used her trump card, and it stopped any of his complaints.

Together, they explored the palace grounds before she confirmed that what was drawing her wasnt outside. It was inside.

Once they entered an open balcony, she inspected the building.

It might look like it was made out of stone and frozen wood, but her bloodline and mana told her the truth.

The palace was made out of Winter. Capital w Winter.

Matt didnt seem to notice anything wrong, but Aster could feel the building shifting around them, drawing them deeper.

She told Matt, and he tensed up, but she soothed him. It's ok. Something is welcoming us.

Matt grumbled as he pulled out his new club. Welcoming us into its stomach.

Aster rolled her eyes. This is our side. It won't hurt us.

She could feel it in the very mana around them. The world welcomed them. Or rather her.

Matt wasnt unwelcome, but he was only being drawn in because he was with her. She got the impression that if she left his presence, he would quickly find himself outside the palace grounds.

Before long, they appeared in a throne room, and Aster saw what was drawing them there.

A woman of ice and beauty.

She sat upon her throne with blue-white skin and hair like the freshly fallen snow. Even her eyes seemed like chiseled ice.

The woman smiled upon seeing them and said with a voice like a half frozen stream, Welcome, daughter of Winter. Present thyself so I may inspect you further.

Aster jumped out of Matts arms after reassuring him that everything was ok, and scampered into the woman's lap.

The second she sat down, the woman's fingers ran through the illusion of the blank mask she wore and stroked her fur.

It was comforting. Almost as good as Matt was to her when she was a kit, so confused about the world around her.

The gentle fingers also sent power into her. It empowered both her boon and her bloodline.

She was nearly asleep before the woman started speaking. I am the Queen of Winter. Would you like to be my first Titled? My Princess?

Aster stretched a little to get into a more comfortable spot and asked, What does that entail?

She wasnt about to wash anything with her fur like the poor mink girl.

Nothing so sinister, little fox. Any who obtain sufficient Favor with me will receive a Title, but you are special, for we share blood. I, as Queen, have the authority to bestow your Title upon you even now, hastening the growth of your Boon. It requires use of my power, yet for you, little fox, the mana I spend now I know will be repaid tenfold as the war proceeds.

Aster perked her ears up hearing that. You need mana?

The Queen of Winter looked down at her. It is the power your people bring with you. Each of those who pledge to my banner empower me with a fraction of your power. That allows me to expand Winter's grasp. The more of you that are here, the more you will advance my territory. With more territory, I grow stronger. It is a cycle that reinforces itself until the gate opens.

Matt finally spoke. What does that have to do with Aster?

The Queen didnt even move her head from where she looked down at Aster, but she did answer. She is like us. Winter is in her blood. She is like a child returning to my embrace after being lost in a desert. Why would I not spend a little of my power to ensure that she lives well? I have no intention of binding her to me, of forcing her into my service for eternity. No, as a Princess, she would be unto my child, and what mother would not want her daughter to flourish, and to carry forth the splendor of her blood across these lands and beyond? What I may gain from binding such a bright young star to me is naught but a snowflake in the wind when compared to the honor of having such a mighty one carry my essence with her beyond this realm.

Matt shook his head. That seems too good to be true.

The Queen shrugged. Believe what you will. I only give my power to those who accept it. If it would assuage your conscience, your little star, being of winter herself, provides more mana for me to utilize, and that shall only increase once she has been made a Princess. You yourself have earned a portion of my power already. Not enough for a title quite yet, but more than most.

Aster asked something she had started to piece together after feeling the woman's power through the pets. You are Winter, aren't you?

Was that not apparent? I am the season and the season is me.

The woman finally looked up before standing up. She easily transitioned Aster to a cradle carry and scratched her belly before pointing behind her throne, where a pillar of what looked like ice revealed itself.

That is the center of my power. If this body dies, winter can not grow, and will fall to ruin until I am reborn. It is the duty of my court, my Princes, Princesses, and all those who hold my Titles, to lead my armies and bring glory to Winter. They also protect me from the blades of others.

Matt ahhed. So you are vulnerable to the machinations of assassins and others who can do things off the battlefield.

Aster rolled her eyes. This talk was boring. Make me a Princess!

Winter smiled, and a finger glowed as she stroked it down between Aster's eyes.

The last words she heard echoed in her spirit.

I name thee the Princess of Frozen Stars.

***

Matt nearly attacked the Queen on his side as she put a finger on Aster's head, but the woman and the pillar noticeably dimmed, which when combined with his feeling of Aster growing stronger, stopped him.

He still demanded. What did you do to her?

The Queen of Winter sat back down with Aster on her lap. I made her my Princess. Her Favor was insufficient, yet my power could bridge that. She shall be my vanguard and guard alike.

But why? That was what Matt didnt understand.

There was no reason for Minkalla to make the embodiment of a season empower Aster out of the blue.

The ice woman smiled. She is of Winter.

Matt grit his teeth but accepted that, apparently, you could never escape nepotism. He let his enhanced mind churn over the other implications of her words.

Why havent you appeared yet? Sent out generals?

Winter shrugged one shoulder. I possess not the power to create one, your kind are simply insufficient in number as of yet.

Matt paused as everything came to a screeching halt, his mind turning over her previous words.

Mana lets you produce troops? He tried to keep his hopes in check as he asked, but they threatened to bubble over.

At the Queens nod, he started to plan.

If he could get Winter to have a lead over the other seasons, they could possibly beat this floor in weeks instead of months.

Except, he was worried for Aster.

How long will it take for Aster to wake up? He couldn't feel the inner workings of the process, so had to ask.

A few hours.

Hearing the answer, he smiled and flexed his mana pool. With a practiced motion, it fed into his ring and flowed out from it a stream of white-blue mana- Asterswinter mana- and let it flood the air around him. The ring didnt allow for a perfect conversion, but it still allowed him to convert his mana into a more suitable form.

All 2,560 mana that he could generate every second flowed into the ring, and came out as nearly two thousand MPS of Aster's winter mana.

He took a perverse pleasure in seeing the embodiment of Winter raise her eyebrow at his actions when she realized that the stream of mana wasn't ending.

What can we do with this?

When shall you tire?

Matt smiled under his mask and let the blank item reflect that. Never.

Her smile was ice cold as she returned his answer. Everything.