The Path of Ascension

Chapter 250

As much as Matt wanted to keep delving back to back, he knew that wasnt possible. Ventillyria had a serious problem with the Sect influence creeping into the local culture.

While they were still waiting for their newly purchased delve slots to open up, the three of them started to look into what the Sects were doing.

Under two layers of disguises, just in case anyone was actively protecting the known Sect sympathizer's locations, the three of them went to snoop around. Matt didnt think there would be any Sect agents holding down obvious strongholds, as that was just asking for trouble, but there was always a chance that they were betting on someone thinking that. The agents could be using that assumption to blindside anyone checking them out. It was all they really could do, as double think of that sort just led one to a spiraling pit of madness, second-guessing every decision and wondering if your enemy was one step ahead of you. They chose to prepare against Sect spies, but going by that logic, they didnt expect to find any.

Through historical information gathered and sifted through by Matts [AI], then compared to and confirmed with the Empire's own information networks, they found that the initial Sect influence had spread from a martial hall run by one Ian Yestara.

The Sect Master, as Ian had started styling himself, had been a fairly unknown Tier 15 until his change in style, when he invented a few easy-to-grasp modifications to common skills like [Fireball], [Mana Slash], and [Mana Strength] after a failed venture into an exploration of worlds that drifted by in chaotic space.

All of his inventions were fairly common Sect skill modifications, but it was enough to create a small splash in the city he was stationed in, and no one really saw any harm in it. It wasnt like modifying skills was anything new. The Empire did the same, and even had Madam Del'vir's guide, which focused on Tier 8 skills and was commonly available. They just didnt have the cultural heritage that said every dropped skill needed to be modified before use.

Matt inwardly groaned as he read over the reports that had come out in the wake of Ians inventions. Yes, those modifications were usually improvements, but they were also limited in ways that a lot of people who just looked at the raw damage of a skill could overlook. The [Mana Slash] was a perfect example, as it had more damage per cast, almost double the basic skill, but its mana cost also ballooned to two and a half times the initial cost and the cast time was slightly slower.

Ian waved away criticism by saying that a fighter should only need one use of the technique to win a battle, and that spamming the attack was for those who weren't good with their blade.

On the surface, that might seem like sound logic, as use spells effectively was basic common sense anyone could agree with, but his modifications had practical flaws like mana inefficiency and excessive force. Anyone who tried to point out the practical flaws was called inadequate for not being able to see the techniques improvement, and weak for needing to rely on numbers to overwhelm their opponents.

Matt took note of the news stations that supported Ians ideas and the reporters who wrote the articles as people to look into, but continued focusing on the instigator of this entire fiasco.

After a year or so of gatherings from Ian's new 'Sect', increasingly obvious changes happened, practically screaming, 'Sect influence'.

First, Ians sect had had three disciples join from off the world, and those three Tier 5s were suspiciously good at combat, proven when they swept the competition in a local tournament while only using the three techniques that his sect was teaching.

Second, Ian himself had a very public inspiration which he claimed to be from accepting the truth about fighting, which garnered him and his Sect a lot of attention both locally and off the world.

Third, the Marquess' healing failed just after, sending the local political landscape into ruin, with none of the three candidates able to get an upper hand for a suspiciously long time.

Matt was pretty sure the Sects were happily rotating their support between candidates to ensure none of them took full control over the throne, but that was pure speculation on his end.

Finally, a wave of new recruits joined Ians sect, and three more sects opened up in quick succession after seeing how well he did.

Without a doubt, the Sects were throwing money and resources at the little uprising.

Aster looked up from her pad and bit her lip. I think I know what they want from this whole charade.

Liz pushed back a lock of hair that had fallen across her face as Aster continued.

Look at this place on the Empire map. It's a nexus point between six other worlds and is essentially a choke point to the frontlines. We are eight jumps away from the frontlines, but this is the most direct path from this duchys capital to She quickly traced her finger along the frontline, Fifteen worlds. If they can hold this area, they can starve out those worlds and prevent them from getting any logistic resupplies between attacks.

Liz nodded once Aster stopped speaking and gestured to the screen on the wall to display another view. I agree, but I dont think thats all. This is a logistics depot as well. They carry tons of military equipment ranging from Tier 15 to Tier 30 for the battlefields around here. That's a tempting target. With the support they are drumming up, they can and probably have infiltrated the depot, and when they take over, I bet a lot of gear doesn't get destroyed per standard procedure.

Matt flicked his finger and replaced the information Liz had thrown on the wall. Also, look at this. I was going through the history of the Sects' infiltration of Ventillyria, and the stuff with Ian is both obvious and a

Aster raised her pen, interrupting Matt, and she asked a question he hadnt thought of. I saw him as well. What are the odds that he is who he says he is.

Liz perked up. You think they killed and replaced him?

Maybe. I know it's damn hard to do, but it's not impossible. If, when he was venturing off to new worlds, he got captured and they cracked open his AI, they could faithfully recreate most unique identifiers that the PlanetNets look for. Like I said, it's stupidly hard, but it's not impossible. In fact, it just happened four thousand years ago, when Baroness Opal got captured by the Federation. They were able to replace her with a spy for close to five hundred years before the person playing her slipped up and was questioned.

Even Luna, who had been silently watching them, gave Aster an odd look, so Matt asked what they were all thinking. How do you know that, Aster?

Aster smiled, and Matt felt the pride through their bond. Kelly wanted to make a movie about the situation, so we spent a few weeks looking up information about the case. It was a really fun movie! I got to play the torturer's assistant in it and had a really fun monologue before Baroness Opal broke free and killed me.

Matt laughed at her antics and demanded to get a copy of the movie before Liz brought them back onto topic. It's possible, as Ian was gone for almost thirty years, but it's damn hard to pull off, and Im not sure it's worth the effort in this case. Ian owned a failing martial hall, and Baroness Opal was, well, a baroness. The effort for position doesn't seem worth it when just getting him to turn to their side is way easier.

Matt mulled it over and brought their attention back to the screen. It's an interesting idea, and when my [AI] stops cross-referencing false identities, Ill set it on looking for actionable personality changes. Though that will be hard, considering he did change personality when he came back, so I doubt anything will be conclusive. But that leads me back to my earlier point. Ian is the obvious entry point, but look just three years after his return to right after the Sect infiltrators won those tournaments. That's more useful information for us. Over ten thousand people joined his martial hall, and security from the surrounding areas shows a ton of increased traffic. On the surface, its all good and legit, but that traffic falls off almost the moment the locals start joining his martial hall. When you look at the other martial halls, or rather sects, that opened up almost immediately after that, you see almost ten thousand people join those sects in the first few weeks.

Liz whistled. And then once the locals start to join, they fade back. Fuck, I wouldn't have caught that.

Aster chewed on the back of her pen as she thought. Does that mean we have ten thousand agents working here? We are good, but I dont know if were that good.

Matt shook his head as he denied that. I very much doubt that. Those were fighters with dubious identities. My [AI] is currently trying to compare the body shapes and sizes of those who joined the various sects with the limitations of known masks. From everything I can see, those ten thousand really were Tier 3 through 5, so they cant have mastered shapeshifting. It's more likely the sect behind this operation just shipped in a bunch of their younger members and had them drum up attention. Once that was done, there was no reason to leave them in place, and it would have been more risky to do so. Tier 3s mean the people they sent were at max thirty, and I really doubt that kids like that could have kept such a secret for the last few decades without a single one slipping. In fact, I dont even think it was a full ten thousand people. It was probably closer to one thousand, and they just had each of them play multiple people. The identities are all incredibly suspicious once you start digging into them. All from far away baronies in other Kingdoms that changed over rulers recently, making digging into local records harder than usual.

Throwing up another few projections and graphs on the screen, Matt showed the three of them where his mind was going.

This all culminates into the question. How did they get here? And I think I have my answer. Warrens Whalers is a shipping company that, surprise surprise, smuggles goods. It's not unreasonable to expect them to have been used as the muscle to move a few people around. In fact, Im almost certain, thanks to the shipping records showing them having large shipments arriving right before Ian got his influx of students and when those students vanished.

Liz pulled his information up on her AI, and her eyes twitched as she started skimming through it.

Aster did the same but spoke around her pen. Are they just dirty shippers, or are they compromised? The first isn't surprising, but the second could have an Inspirations worth of information for us.

That's what I havent been able to figure out yet. I think we need to infiltrate them and find out.

The moment he stopped speaking, Liz raised a finger and asked them to wait. It took her almost a minute, but she finally explained. I knew Warrens Whalers sounded familiar; look here. Almost a century ago, they were getting harassed by their competitors, and it was speculated that some espionage and piracy were going on, though it was never proven. But then all of a sudden, they started getting really lucrative deals. Deals that all originated from Ventillyria.

Aster pointed out the largest flaw in that argument before Matt could. Sure, but the timeline doesn't add up. Warrens Whalers troubles ended almost a decade before Ian left for chaotic space. Oh damn, do you think they already had a spy team here before that, and either followed him or had already turned him?

Liz shrugged. No clue, but it's not like it's surprising that the Sects might have teams embedded this close to the border. Id bet everything I own we do the same in their territories. It's just a question of if we can find out who the original moles are or not. If you look, there are a dozen other planets with lesser but similar levels of Sect influence along the border.

Matt asked his own question. Does that even matter? Like, Id love to solve that question for my own curiosity, but does it really mean anything if we do? Sure, we might get some merits and Empire Points for the solution, but the real issue here is that the culture is kind of fucked. Really, does any of it mean anything? Even if we pull out the spies and show the planet that they were being manipulated, will it fix the problem? I dont see how.

Aster shook her head. It might not solve anything, but it's not like we can sit here and ignore the problem. Firstly, we have a duty to help where we can, and second, the cultural drift will shift back after a few decades if we can solve the root of the issue. It's like an infection. If you can get rid of the source, the body can usually solve the rest on its own. Luna, what do you think? You have probably solved this whole situation already, right?

Luna glared at all of them. I think they are following the letter of the agreed-upon rules of war, and I cant interfere in any way, shape, or form as a higher Tier.

None of them were too happy with that answer, but it did tell them that they were on their own.

Eventually, they decided Aster was right, and they needed to do their part, which included ripping out the source of the infection, the spies and infiltrators.

That was a tricky bit of work, but it was always possible. The real issue would be finding the source. They could capture a dozen lesser spies, but if the mastermind was left free, more people would be turned to their side or brought in from the Sects. If they were able to take out the mastermind, they could either root out the remaining spies through interrogation of the leader, or the spies would naturally go to ground where they couldnt do any real damage until the sects managed to reestablish a presence.

The latter wasnt ideal, but it was good enough for them. Without instigators, Ventillyria could heal itself.

With a goal defined, they moved out to investigate everyone they found suspicious in their overview of the situation.

Matt felt that Ian would end up being nothing more than a plant by the Sects. He still went and used his spiritual sense to scope out the area of the sect but quickly had to retreat when he felt a spiritual perception comparable to his.

That put Ian further up on their list of suspects, and instead, they turned to investigate the shipping company. That turned out to be a much easier prospect, and after a day of scouting the location, they felt comfortable enough to break in and download all the information off the internal servers. Or rather, they cloned the servers and used copies of the copies as practice for his [AI].

His [AI] was in no way specialized for that kind of work, but he had millions of mana to throw at the problem, and an unlimited amount of cloned servers to test his luck on. It took almost an entire night, but that was less a comment on his [AI]s skills, and more a comment on how bad the security of Warrens Whalers was.

They didnt find anything obviously incriminating on the documents, but they were able to nearly confirm that the Warrens had moved the Sect cultivators Matt had noticed. Their records noted a shipment of perishable foodstuffs that, for an unexplained reason, had needed to use their animal hauler. While they had described it as an unfortunate incident due to the normal ship being out of commission, a few shady-sourced payments happened once a year for the next decade, indicating it was much more than that.

Matt put Warren on his list to talk to if they ran into a dead end, as he was sure the man would know more, but he was off-world, and had been for close to a decade. He was the head of a large shipping conglomerate and moved a lot, but his location was at least known, and they could get to him if needed.

Wanting to check more locations, they took Beverly, Shane, and Yosef up on their offer to show them around the planet.

They socialized and visited a few of the more hidden locations that catered to high Tiers and their needs as a cover while they expanded their investigation. As they suspected, there were no people flaunting their sect loyalties. When they finally did see a pair of people in sect during a visit to a local bar, Matt knew it was safe to ask the three of them for their view on the situation when Shane nearly spat upon seeing them.

It could have been a trap to see where their loyalties lay, but there was a level of vitriol in his expression that Matt didnt think was false.

Beverly grabbed him by the arm and said, Dont start anything. Not again. We cant afford the fines.

Shane wretched his arm free but sat down with them. Fucking assholes deserve to get their asses beat every time I see one. Traitors, the lot of them.

Yosef explained as Shane glared at the group in sect robes. His mother was in the military and was killed in the last border skirmish with the Sects. With the increase in Sect sympathy, he hasnt taken it well.

Shane turned his glare to Yosef, who just raised his hands, showing he wasnt trying to start a fight.

We should have started shipping them out to the border the moment they started sympathizing with those maniacs. What good are traitors? Nothing. We lose nothing of value with them gone. Mark my words; nothing good can come from allowing this farce to play out.

Aster patted his arm and asked, How did this even start? You could say it was a bit of a shock when we arrived. Thought our teleporter might have dropped us off at the wrong planet.

Beverly explained after she thanked the waiter who delivered their drinks. Oh, I dont know exactly, thirty years ago? Maybe forty. Whatever the number is, it doesn't really matter, but the point is that some asshole started showing off sect skills or whatever, saying they were better than what we use.

She went on to repeat what they already knew, but Matt filed away the little bits of more personal information that the three of their guides spoke on. For instance, Yosef waved away the idea of the Sects using the people as a fifth column, and instead gave the theory that they were simply aiming for the local weapons depot.

Apparently, there were a number of failed attacks that never reached the news, but had circulated through the local rumor mills.

It was the bits of information that only a local would know that Matt was happy to get. It gave them a better picture of the overall situation and some nuance that they might have missed otherwise.

That, and Beverly, Shane, and Yosef seemed like genuinely good people, even if a little distant from the overall situation, as immortals who could easily leave before the war arrived.

With the new information, the three of them moved to investigate the army depot.

Located on Ventillyrias moon, it was an ostensibly secure location and was considered a restricted airspace while still being close enough to the planet and the local nobility. Matt had asked Luna why it wasnt part of the actual fortress planet, and she pointed out that a supply depot that was part of the fortress would be vulnerable to attack, which would risk the crafters.

And no one wanted to put the Crafters at risk

He looked into some rules of the war and learned that while official orders said all items were to be destroyed if it looked like the world would fall, that was taking advantage of a gray area in the rules of war that all parties abused enough to avoid closing the loophole.

That said, the moon was a hive of activity.

Close to ten thousand craftsmen between Tier 15 and Tier 30 were responsible for repairing all broken items in this duchy's war effort.

When not in an active war setting, they acted as a repair point and as a new item creation point when they had free time. But in a war environment, they had their hands full fixing the arms and armor that were broken by waves of attackers. Currently, only two planets in this duchy had fallen, but the rest had repelled attackers, and that came at the cost of items and people. The people could be replaced by reserves, but the items needed to be repaired before being sent back out to arm the fortress planets and cultivators who defended it.

All of that meant the moon was incredibly well defended, but it notably wasnt staffed by the army, and was instead supported by the local Marquess guards to ensure they were compliant with the laws of war.

That introduced a number of possible flaws and ins for the spies to infiltrate, but it wouldnt have been easy. That said, the spies had close to a century at least to infiltrate those systems.

They gamed out how they would break in, but all of their efforts came to naught, as they just couldn't do so on their own and had no idea what level of equipment the spies might have or where they might be positioned.

If the spy was the captain of the guard or had turned him, the way they infiltrated the depot would be different than if their mole was an ordinary craftsman. Despite the uncertainty, Matts [AI] churned through billions of mana as he tried to process all the possible information, looking for flaws in any of the information available to them.

For all that work, they still came up with nothing, and their only remaining lead was Ian and his sect.

So, they decided to once more attempt to scout the premise.

Unlike last time, when Matt simply skirted around the edges, they decided to go in a little more directly.

Using their masked identities, they openly walked through the front door. Academy Storming wasn't technically applicable to martial halls, but it was close enough to the inner Sect battles that if Ian complained, it would ruin his image.

It was also a risk to show their masked identities on Ventillyria, but they were out of options, and there was an air that the three of them didnt like. The mortal populations had started shying away from those in robes who started acting more and more unbound. So far, no one had crossed any legal lines, but it was quickly moving in that direction. Matt suspected that if the Sects kept pushing their agenda, there would be civilian casualties in the next decade.

They needed to, if nothing else, show the Sects that the Empire was watching, aware of them, and wasnt sitting back idly.

Hopefully, their identities as Pathers would do that.

Or at least put some fear into the spies.

To that end, Quill sauntered in as Torch kicked one of the large, ornate doors down. It hadnt even been locked, but if they were going to create a scene, they were going to hurt Ians sect's pride as much as possible. That, if nothing else, might force out a reaction. After all, their entire theory of superiority was reliant on them being stronger than everyone else. If that aura was broken, a large amount of their support might vanish.

A few Tier 7s who had been doing stretches in the garden looked at them with shock written on their face and Quill gave them a rude gesture.

Where are your seniors? We are here to kick ass and take names. We arrived and looked at what we saw. Wanna be sect members. That's just not a good look.

Pulling a broom out of his spatial ring, Quill swatted the two kids. It was pure theatrics, meant for the two dozen Tier 15 spiritual perceptions that had locked onto them the moment they kicked the door down.

Torch, dont you think it's a little too green around here? I feel like they could use some redecorating.

Torch raised her spear and said a single word. Burn.

The moment the syllable left her lips, the garden and outer walls caught flame.

Wanting to add to the drama, Quill threw out a few talismans that created flowers of flames, which Torch spun into small tornadoes of fire that tore their way through the rest of the green spaces.

All the flames carefully avoided the low Tier students, but their job was completed when the doors opened with a slam.

Who dares intrude on my sect? Ian was a physically imposing man standing at almost seven feet tall and well muscled, but being a Tier 15, it was less impressive, as anyone could get the same with a few months of dedicated shaping.

Torch raised a fist, and when she clenched it, the flames extinguished.

Quill laughed. Ahh, the puppet arrives.

He let his mask smirk at Ians face twitch, but inside, he was cold and watching the rest of the disciples' actions.

The seven people standing around Ian were all Tier 15s, and Quill's spirit told him they were dangerous. Not dangerous enough to make him retreat, but enough to know they were a cut above normal Tier 15s. These were Tier 15s who had fought their way to their Tier.

Torch cracked her neck as Ian snorted, putting up a strong front. I demand you apologize; Promising Pathers or not, you cant just go anywhere you wish.

Quill laughed. Let's test that. Let's see what happens when we pull away that veneer of Sect talk from you. Torch, if you would.

At his command, Torch exploded in a burst of flames and launched herself forward. She was currently boosted by the physical cultivation portion of Matts buffing Concept ability, her own potions, and her spells. All of which made her Tier 15 even split of magical and physical cultivation as strong as a melee Tier 17.

Two of the Tier 15s rushed down the stairs but were defeated by Torch in a single exchange. When they reached her, their fists raised with mana coiling around them, Torch twisted in the air as she kicked the one on the left in the gut, hard enough to make him instantly vomit a mixture of blood and bile, while the other caught an elbow to the face that ripped his jaw off his head.

That caused the others to all rush down, but they were all quickly disseminated and left bleeding by Torch before she stopped at the foot of the stairs, flames billowing around her armored form and following the pattern of her slow and even breathing.

Quill walked over the broken bodies of the spies and made sure to step onto each of their bodies. He was sure most would think that it was a simple method of humiliation, and he played that up by stomping on one man who tried to stand up, but he was really imprinting weak runes onto their bodies. The runes would fade in a few days, but it would let him track them until then, and if they went to a secret base, he would be able to find it.

Ian tried to regain control of the situation, but Quill cut him off. You might want to move, Puppet Ian. Torch?

Flames flaring, Torch rushed up the stairs past Ian and into the building, where she started burning everything. As people ran out, Matt smiled as he felt the other dozen Tier 15s fleeing through the back of the building.

The array that Aster was manning would hopefully mark them the same way that he had marked the Tier 15s on the floor.

How dare you do this? This is against the law! I will

Quill punched Ian in the face, interrupting him. He hit hard enough to make the punch be felt but not hard enough that it risked killing him. Despite that Ian gasped as his nose was broken.

No one gives a shit, puppet. We are here for your master. The one pulling your strings. Are you going to be a good boy and tell me who that is?

Ian spat on Quill, but a flex of his Concept froze the bloody phlegm in the air. That wasnt very nice.

A talisman flared to life on his glove as Matt punched Ian far harder in the gut.

As the Tier 15 dropped to the ground, he got a message from Torch. Ive gotten scans of half the building. Buy me two more minutes.

Quill let his mask smile as the building started to burn around him and he grabbed Ian by the hair, dragging him down the stairs and towards the gathering crowd. Does everyone have a good view? This is what your undefeatable Sect Master is like. Cowering the moment someone stronger than him appears. Saying it's against the law. But that's an Empire law. The Sects encourage what I just did. They want conflict between sects. If this was the Sects, I could kill him and all of you, and I wouldnt be in trouble. Id be applauded. Maybe all of you should think carefully about what youre supporting and the tangential consequences.

Shaking Ian, he dropped him on the pile of beaten Tier 15s.

Then, Torch came out of the now inferno behind him, and he slowly walked down the stairs as the building started to collapse behind them.

Torch.

Hearing her name, Torch raised a fist, and the flames that danced around the building turned into a massive flower before finishing in a puff of smoke.

Once they were past the spectators, they went through a few crowded areas and changed identities a dozen times before meeting back up with Aster after ensuring they werent being followed to check on their runes.

Two more sects, and the bait would be set. Then they just needed to see what they would catch.