The Path of Ascension

Chapter 264

Matt panted as he looked down into the valley, where a single massive bear paced around, letting out occasional chuffs and growls.

They had already spent a week clearing out the rest of the monsters in the Tier 24 rift, but with a five Tier difference, each fight was difficult on its own, and the bears were one of their hardest opponents in recent memory. It was precisely why Luna had them cutting their teeth against the beasts.

If they were just simple elemental bears, the rift should have been easier than most, but the breed seemed filled with limitless energy and a willingness to trade damage with anyone who tried to fight them. If that was all, they would have been fairly normal monsters, but Continuous Bears used their own brand of endlessness to absorb damage and use it to fuel their own attacks. To make matters worse, they loved to work together with the Space Bats and the Time Rabbits to confuse and outlast anyone delving this awful rift.

If the three of them were closer in Tier, they could have just overwhelmed the bears damage absorption, but with a five Tier gap, they struggled to damage the monsters at all.

Aster flicked her tail, slipped back over the lip of the valley, and groaned. Im not sure we can take that big boy. Even if I slow him down, he's going to get free in fifteen seconds at best.

Matt agreed with a nod. The Continuous Bears were hard to use any kind of slow or crowd control spells on, as while the spell would work like normal at first, it would quickly start to lose effectiveness until it was useless. And that was for the normal bears. If the increase in power of the other monster types held true for the sub bosses, this bear was going to break out even faster.

Learning that lesson on the Space Bat had cost Matt a large chunk out of his thigh that had taken days to heal while fighting. He was just glad the monsters' offensive powers were only on par with Tier 24 monsters and not exceptional like their defenses were.

Liz pushed herself back and quietly asked, Are we going to call it quits then?

Lizs voice was perfectly calm, but Matt heard the irritation in it. They had fully cleared this rift in the hope they could advance to Tier 20 without fighting the trio of bosses guarding the rift exit and reward, and were just a step away.

Tier 20 had been such a looming goal for so long that with it so close, none of them wanted to give up, but the only source of essence left in the rift was the final sub-boss and the collection of bosses. Both options none of them were entirely sure they could actually beat without a serious risk of death.

Fighting with this large of a Tier gap, even a small mistake could prove fatal, and that rang especially true when fighting a boss.

Matt shrugged. If we have to leave, we should, but I think I have an idea. First of all, how is your arm, Liz?

Liz flexed her right hand, twisting it left and right, showing the appendage had its full range of movement. Ninety percent, what's your idea?

Matt flipped his hand and pulled out one of his talisman arrays. I think it's time we use Breakers Fist.

Aster groaned as she shook her head. Theres no way that will work, Matt. You need to be way too close to land that with a boss this dangerous.

Everything she said was correct, but Matt nodded anyway. Breakers Fist was an array he had put together with Tier 24 bear hides during their current delve on a whim, wanting to take advantage of the bear's unique properties and how they might merge with his manas endless sub-aspect. The end result was giving Matt an incredible amount of melee strength and reinforcement for a brief moment, all concentrated on his fist.

At least, in theory.

Matt hadnt actually been able to test the array. In fact, he hadnt even made the array yet. Though, in principle, he should be able to make it in a mere few hours with how simple the actual formation was.

Liz shook her head at his idea. It's too risky to do that without testing. If it's that bad, it's smarter to just back out and run another rift for us to hit Tier 20. What about your fire arrays? If I direct one or two of them, we might be able to punch through the hide of the monster.

Matt searched his ring and tossed the remaining two fire-based talisman arrays to Liz and the ice-based one to Aster.

They had burned through a lot of his supply in the last few years with their aggressive delving speed.

Matt still had a lot of single talismans, but the arrays were practically needed when delving at such a disadvantage. For all that they pretended he had a talisman Talent, he didnt, and the lack of added power really started to be felt at times like this.

Aster flipped through the pieces of parchment and tsked. I can work with this, but it will only extend my slowing of the bear by five, maybe ten seconds. Once it starts growing immune to something, it's hard to keep the same effect going.

Liz asked, Matt, can you wrap the bear in a lot of earth? Even if only for a few moments? That should let me get a good hit with these two. Adding in my own attacks, I think I can get us through its hide.

Matt nodded as he ran the simulations. As long as the boss didnt have a wildly different skill set from the smaller monsters they had fought, they should be able to pierce the monster's hide.

Then, it would just be up to him and Liz to finish the monster off before it could kill them.

A dangerous game, but one he was confident they could win.

They spent a few minutes hashing out a general outline of their plan before getting ready.

Matt used 60,000 MPS to fuel both layers of [Cracked Phantom Armor] to their limits. He had spent the last few decades making his first skill more and more efficient so it wasnt outclassed by higher Tier skills. He was hoping that when he completed The Path he could get a few upgrade orbs, and intended to use one on the skill that had enabled so much of his growth.

Setting his feet, as he couldn't fly with his Concept in such a high Tier rift, he launched himself into the valley, sword glowing with mana. Like a star descending, his presence was immediately noticed by the sub-boss, who, instead of turning and running like a normal bear, reared on its hind legs let out a scream that caused a red aura to appear around it.

Standing close to fifteen feet tall, the monster swiped at Matt as he descended. But with his physical buffing skills running, Matt was just able to react and dodge the monster's attack by using his Concept to subtly change his direction, forcing the bear to lock down space.

As his blade touched the bear's second swipe, Matt was already commanding the ground to reach up and wrap around its legs.

He immediately felt the ground start to break apart, but with a large portion of his mana, he commanded the ground to hold, and it did.

As his blade released the stored mana in [Mana Charge], the world went white, and even with both layers of [Cracked Phantom Armor] protecting him, Matt felt a strain on the skill and knew the bear would have taken some damage, even with its reinforced claws. With the mana causing the world to go blueish-white, Matt had to rely on his spiritual sense to dodge the second claw as it came around to try and swat him out of the air.

Instead of dodging, Matt teleported to the bear's flank and immediately swapped places with Liz, who drove her flame-covered spear into the side of the bear. If it was only flames, the bear might have been able to rely on its defenses to take the hit, but Liz had been charging [Hungering Weapon] and her Concept, waiting for the swap.

From Matt's vantage point at the top of the valley, he watched as a wave of flames expanded outward for a brief moment before rushing back in to converge on Liz, or rather her spear, leaving only a small moment where he could see the blood being pulled out of the bears side and fed through the spear like a child drinking through a straw.

The bear, who had shrugged off his initial attacks, stumbled backward, a large cut exposing its ribs, charred flesh already starting to wiggle as the monster tried to heal itself.

Matt teleported back down into the valley with two quick jumps, using the mana he had just sent back into the growth ring, not able to do more as the bear was locking down space next to it. As he approached, Aster was already casting her own spells. [Black Ice] was a new standard opener and muffled the presence of her follow-up spells. [Brittle Cold] made the bears Continuity Concept effects weaker, and [Winter's Harvest] weakened the bear and fed that power into Matt and Liz. Then she used [Absolute White], which slowed the bear and helped conceal them, an effect that was doubled up with [Black Ice], then also boosted by [Winters Harvest]. [Headwind] and [Tailwind ] sped them up and slowed the bear down as well, giving Matt and Liz the moments they needed so they could actually react to the sub-bosses' higher Tier movements.

Even as her spells were going off, Aster still cast the talisman array as she tried to lock the bear down, using the moment to command the [Snowpack] ice golem cast through her glowing growth tiara down into the fight.

Matt twisted through the air, and using his left hand, he cast a seemingly unending stream of [Cracked Mana Spear], keeping the beam of energy on the gigantic bears already wounded side.

On the positive, it hurt the bear enough to turn its attention from Liz to Matt, but on the other hand, the spell wasnt doing as much damage as they had hoped it would. It was still carving new chunks from the bears regrowing flesh, but they had hoped that Matts finishing move would at least punch through to its internals.

Matt rolled out of the way of the bear's lunging attack, but knew that he couldnt keep it up forever and dropped [Cracked Mana Spear] for the moment. A large shard of ice slammed into the bears head, interrupting its skill-infused bite that was trying to take his life.

Liz was already moving, and with blood gathered from the rift, drove a dozen copies of her spear into the already wounded side of the monster, which caused it to turn and snap at her.

Liz almost got out of the way.

Instead of a clean dodge, she was forced to block the blow with her shield. The bear's glowing teeth bit into her shield, forcing Liz to drop it. When it tried to shake her, she was sent flying instead of being tossed around like a salmon who was a little too slow.

Matt was already moving and cast [Sword Twin] twice, one blade being absorbed into his own and the other dashing to attack the boss face.

[Cracked Air Slide] let him accelerate to an incredible degree in just two steps, but even with [Barbarian's Hide] reinforcing his body, he could feel his muscles tearing and bones cracking under the immense speed. Instead of just charging up a single [Mana Charge], he used his merged blade to cast [Hypersonic Edge], and using the combined spells, slashed along the bear's already wounded side, letting the explosion of mana cut deep into the bear's flesh.

Being so close, Matt was unable to dodge the pained twisting of the sub-boss and caught a flailing paw that backhanded him into the nearby valley's wall. If [Cracked Phantom Armor] hadnt held, he probably would have cracked his head open on impact instead of being mostly fine.

Throwing the stone off him with a small repulsion field, Matt stood up and rushed back into the fight with his blade ready, just in time to see Aster's ice golem getting torn to shreds.

Dodging, he skipped past the explosion of ice that crept over the ground and waves of blood that seemed to chase each other as the Continuous Bear screamed. Energy seemed to infuse the bear, and its movements turned into blurs. It was pure instinct that got Matts blade into position, allowing him to block the blades of mana that tried to tear through him.

As the bear fell back onto all four, Matt was there to meet it, his now battered second [Sword Twin] diving in and scouring a cut on the monster's left eye that didnt seem to bother the creature, but gave Matt an opening with its loss of vision.

Spreading his spiritual sense, he didnt try to sense anything but instead tried to obscure everything his spiritual sense touched, which forced the boss to rely on its now injured eyes.

He got a [Bulwark] up in time to block a bite, but as the bear started to shake, the spell fell apart, despite all his reinforcements. That forced the bear to stand still, which opened it up to Lizs spear that darted in deceptively slowly.

Accompanying her spear was a wave of blood that seemed to rush into the bear's injured side, causing it to scream. As it twisted and bit at her, Liz stood her ground and exploded in a shower of blood as the monster grabbed her and started to shake and chew.

Seeing that, Matt internally winced, but knew she had already used [Blood Body] and wasnt in any real danger. With her corporal form shattered, all the blood around them became part of Liz, and she rose into her golem form before turning it all into golden crystal with [Blood Crystal Armor]. With size that could rival the bear, Liz exchanged blows with the beast, standing her ground and keeping its attention even as Matt started charging [Sheer Cold].

He wasnt going for a massive, rift-ending attack, but even a few seconds of 500,000 MPS was enough to charge the skill to the point he was pushing the limits of what it could handle. While he had been expanding the skill and how much mana it could take, that was a slow process that was being outpaced by just how much mana he had.

When the spell went off, he could feel Aster guiding the ice to cast in a cone instead of a circular AOE, thanks to their connection as bonds.

The boss screamed in pain as the wave of ice flash froze its back and rear legs, even as Liz kept hammering away at its face.

With all the damage they had inflicted on it, even the Continuous Bear boss started to weaken and slow down, and it only took them a few more minutes to kill it.

When Matt felt the final bit of essence flow into his spirit, he sighed and limped over to the puddle of blood that was Liz as she reformed.

Panting, she gasped out, We did it, at least. Fuck, I think I pulled something in my back.

Aster slid down the hill and pumped her fist. We are hot shit! Not our cleanest plus five delve, but a damn good one against a rift that we dont counter. Shame we couldnt kill the final trio of bosses though.

He agreed, but knew there was no way they could take on the other two sub-bosses with the bear to back them up. And they didnt really need to with their spirits now full. There was no reason to risk it, so they slowly flew back to the entrance of the rift and left.

Matt followed Aster and Liz out of the rift, where they nodded to the guards, who didnt seem to notice Luna waiting by the exit.

Luna moved next to them and slowly clapped. Matt couldnt tell if their manager was mocking them with how slow and steady it was, as her face didnt show anything. Well done. Getting to Tier 20 delving plus five is something few can do. Let's get out of the rifts entrance and talk more at your home.

It took them a little bit of time to make it back to their house, but when they did, the three of them collapsed.

Matt smiled as he felt Aster Tier up and chose to copy her, crunching down on his essence core. The rush of power as his core shrunk down felt like ecstasy as he finally hit such an important milestone.

Tier 20, where it was safe for them to try and create their Intents.

It had felt like an impossible task to reach that Tier, but they had finally managed it. The last fifteen years, they had done nothing but delve, but at just one hundred and twelve years old, they had managed to reach Tier 20 on The Path of Ascension, making them one of the fastest teams on The Path.

They had pushed themselves to the limit in order to earn some extra time at Tier 20 so they could slow down and create their Intents as early as possible.

Luna had warned them that the difficulty they were used to delving up would be nothing when compared to trying to delve a Tier 25 rift, where monsters would have Intents.

They hadnt really believed her, and so Luna had shoved them into a Tier 25 swarm rift. He and Liz should have easily countered it, but the two of them were hardly able to kill a single rat, which was only as strong as a Tier 24, but with an ability that spread any wounds across the whole swarm. Fighting something with an Intent when you didnt have one was a barrier few could surpass, and certainly not when they were already five tiers weaker.

Matt still wanted to test it, but he suspected even as a proper Tier 20, the three of them wouldn't fare any better in the rat rift, which was a small blow to his confidence. That said, he was excited to try and complete his Intent. He had had so many ideas he hadnt truly been able to test, and now he could do so without falling over dead due to an errant thought.

Luna watched as Liz finished her own breakthrough and nodded to them. Congratulations. I have already told you everything you need to know about your Intents, but do be careful when attempting to make it. Tier 20 is when you won't die instantly upon a failure, but you will still experience serious spiritual damage if you are wrong. That said, take the next few weeks and feel your way through the process. If you have questions, dont hesitate to ask me.

Matt grinned at Liz and Aster before standing up and hobbling to the shower. Liz joined him just moments later, and they fooled around a little in their now much larger shower before flopping into the soaking tub they had added to the bathroom.

With a higher Tier came larger spatial rings, and theyd splurged on comfort. It was nothing, really, compared to the utter opulence that higher-Tier residences claimed simply by existing, but they could be comfortable. Asters shower and bath were capable of sustaining liquid water cold enough to freeze Matts hand off if he wasnt careful, and Lizs could actually get hot enough to glow. If they were careless, their showers could actually kill them, but so long as they didnt accidentally use water at or above their Tier at their respective maximum temperatures, theyd be fine.

It had been a challenge, setting up the enchantments for that, but Matt had enjoyed the change of pace it had provided, particularly the ways in which he had been able to use his newly-expanded workshop.

Objectively, it wasnt anything special. Half the time Matt wanted to make something actually impressive he needed to improvise in several ways, but even just a few decades ago Matt wouldnt have been able to even dream what his and Lizs joint workshop had grown into.

It was very much a joint workshop now, as Liz often needed his help to make formations for her potions, and he regularly needed custom potions for his own work. Aster was even learning cold-smithing off in one corner, and Matt was hopeful she might be able to apply that to help make some of the materials and physical devices theyd need. But, she mainly preferred making decorations for sale instead of weapons, armor, or crafting tools that they could use.

Aster liked to joke it was her only way of paying taxes, but Matt knew that a large portion of her enjoyment came from doing something that was traditionally done with fire and heat with ice and cold. It wasnt perfect, as cold smithing came with some elemental limitations and imparted cold properties of almost anything forged with the practice, but Matt and Liz were happy to take advantage of her for some of the smaller custom pieces they needed for their own projects. Aster liked to feign irritation, but it was clear to all of them that she secretly enjoyed it.

Once he and Liz were properly relaxed, they retired to the living room where they waited for Aster. She came out not long after, ready to go to their celebration dinner.

Reaching Tier 20 was a milestone for anyone, and they wanted to celebrate it.

The next morning, the three of them separated as they went to start working on their Intents.

Matt flew well out into space and found a free area that no ships should fly through and started working on his Intent.

His first step was attempting to claim his sword as his Anchor. Minkalla was still a bit intimidating, so he wanted to first explore something more tangible, literally. Also, Liz and Aster were going for their Anchors first, why shouldnt he?

Matt withdrew the sword, clasping it in his hands and meditating upon it. What it meant to him, his history with it, what it represented, and what it was made of. Those were just the start.

The metals which composed the blade, the enchantments he had applied, the essence empowering its base material, its ability to change up what it was on a moments notice, how it was just as surely a powerful weapon for smiting people as a potent foci for magic He still didnt push it too far, but his spirit seemed to like the idea of his sword being a focus, something which he could use to amplify his spells.

Considering he still had some more ideas to test, and the fact he mainly wanted to try a bit harder with his phrases before fully committing to a full Intent trial, he left it at that, after making a note to redo the enchantments on his sword to make it more mage-based. Being able to feel with more detail what parts of his ideas did or didnt work was already showing its worth, and he moved on to his phrases with his spirits high.

Hed definitely learn something from his dozens of candidates.

***

Aster flew out past where Matt was and then summoned her ice cream cloud to take her all the way to the asteroid belt. Most of the metals had already been stripped out of the field, leaving only rock and ice, but that was perfect for her needs.

She wanted ice. Cold, desolate ice that hardly knew a moving molecule. That was what she wanted for her Intent.

No matter what she wanted for her bloodline, she was still an ice fox. The flavor of ice might change, but it was all still ice. That had been an important realization she hoped would keep her Domain from breaking when she eventually created her Stellar Ice bloodline, but beyond that, she wanted to create that reality. And what was a Domain but imposing one's understanding of reality?

Winter in Minkalla had been a great base for her, and as she sat on a floating shard of ice the size of a small moon, she started to meditate on the fae and the winter wonderland that they had created.

That place had been home in a way she found hard to describe, and despite it all being part of Minkalla, she felt it was real. Real enough that as she created an icescape in the center of her cores where her Intent would form, she felt the Image fall into place almost seamlessly.

But almost seamlessly wasnt good enough, and Aster started playing with the Image.

A near copy of Minkallas winter domain, Aster created a land of ice and cold filled with Fae walking around and working. Being of ice and cold, they were perfect for her land, and Aster almost felt like she was connecting with something deeper, but no matter how perfectly she imagined it, there was still something wrong.

She kept tweaking small parts of the image, looking for what was wrong, changing the normal trees into trees of ice, but even change seemed to make her stray away from her once near-perfect image. Closing her eyes, she reverted her image to the reflection of Minkalla, and on a whim, removed the Fae. It made everything feel lifeless and desolate, but it felt like the sharp edge of the puzzle piece had been shaved away, and the Image was now perfect.

Aster took a moment and reflected on what that said about her. Was she meant to be alone forever? Alone in a desolate winter landscape? She didnt believe that for a moment, as she knew even if the realm collapsed, she had Matt and Liz to hold up the sky, but she couldn't help but wonder why her Intent's Image was so lifeless.

It seemed lonely.

There was still more work to be done, clearly. She had a direction though, which was good, and from there she shifted to the part of her Intent she was overall most certain of.

Her Anchor.

Her Tiara was the ideal anchor for a number of reasons, but the main one was that she would eventually be the queen of ice. Not unlike how Winter had been the Queen of Winter in Minkalla, Aster would eventually be the queen of ice. Some day in the future, when people talked of ice mages, they would speak of her like they spoke of Duke Waters, the indisputable peak of the element.

Her Will suffused the area around her, chilling it beyond what mere physics would allow. It was but one way through which she could demonstrate her rightful strength, her dominion over the very concept of cold, the purest idea of Winter. She was the Princess of Frozen Stars, and her tiara was evidence of that very fact. It had been granted to her by the Queen of Winter herself, the physical manifestation of her birthright, all that she would inherit.

Egotistical, perhaps, but a ruler needed an ego, the absolute surety that they were the best for the job, the lack of second-guessing and absence of peers proof of that reckless confidence.

She would inherit the earth, and ice was her crown.

Her tiara praised her name, assuring her that yes, she was the rightful queen of ice, that all of winter would be her domain. But that was it.

Asters eyes narrowed. She was close. Oh so very close. Her spirit happily swept through her crown, using the bonds it already possessed, growing it as she grew, but her Willpower, her Domain, would not crown itself.

Not yet, it whispered, voice carried to her on the biting winds of winter, Your kingdom is not yet ready.

Aster frowned. Her kingdom was hers for the taking. She had seen it, seen what it would be. It was hers, whether it knew it or not. It was hers and she would not be denied.

It is not ready. The crown jewel has not been made.

Was it saying that she couldnt make the anchor yet? Luna had said that Intents could be very particular, and while it was rare that the parts insisted on being made in a certain order, it wasnt unheard of.

Though, it made sense that her literal coronation might need to be the final piece of her Intent to form. There was much more to being a queen than simply wearing a crown, after all. There was much work to be done before then.

I am Ice, she replied, meditating upon the full implications of that idea, delving ever-deeper into the reality she suggested. But her spirit didnt respond.

I am the Cold at Worlds End. It didnt approve of that. It was unbecoming for a queen to be the apocalypse itself. She was no winter wolf seeking to devour the sun and leave her lands awash in darkness and ice.

The Eternal Majesty of Ice. Something was there. Her spirit applauded the idea of an eternal ice sculpture to her majesty, lasting past the very heat-death of the universe. But there was more there, something just out of reach

A stabbing headache brought her back to reality, and when Aster went to wipe her forehead off, it came away covered in frozen blood. Her eyes widened slightly. Perhaps shed been pushing a bit too hard for right now.

Aster sighed. She had really wanted to show up Matt and Liz by coming away with at least something for her efforts, and if she was lucky, maybe even Susanne. The swordswoman, last theyd heard from her, had a very solid idea for all three parts of her Intent, with a decent amount of resonance between them. She was still waiting until she reached Tier 20 for genuine attempts, but Aster wouldnt have been surprised if shed get her entire Intent within a decade.

Though, it wasnt really any comfort, Aster could sense Matts irritation with his own Intent through their bond. Perhaps Liz was having a better time than them.

***

Liz meditated within an ocean, or at least a pool, of blood. Specifically, her blood.

Her Anchor.

There really was no other option for her. She was One With Blood, it was her in a very real sense. It was her cauldron and weapon, her health and her heritage. It was what her body used to fight off foreign attacks, even how it counterattacked. Everything she touched became a part of her blood, her skills simply an extension of her circulatory system.

It was her pride and joy, thick and powerful. It had held potions strong enough to let her match a giant blow for blow, and absorbed enough metal to make a spaceship.

It was already her spirit made manifest, this was simply the next step for that. It should be as easy as breathing.

At least, comparatively.

Her blood was so much more than simply the red-colored liquid that she needed to remove from enemies and use within herself. Shed spent the last half-century truly trying to comprehend every last way which blood could be understood, because it was all important to her Intent.

Intents were hard.

Unlike Concepts, which fundamentally didnt require much beyond a basic idea for your spirit to center upon and build off of, Intents served as the gateway to the third Talent, the Power Talent. Beyond the additional step of an Anchor, connecting her spirit so firmly to reality that trying to say it was anything but real was a fools errand, every part of the Intent had to be firmly understood and comprehended. Every last facet needed to be accounted for.

She needed perfect clarity of intent, absolute knowledge of everything her blood did and was, such that her spirit could manifest and perform all of those actions just as surely. And that was the easy part. She didnt need to worry about the resonances with the other portions of her Intent yet, didnt need to balance her understanding of her Anchor with her Phrase or Image, didnt need to keep every portion of her Image in mind as she reached out to claim her Anchor, all that mattered right now was her, and her blood.

Her blood was her weapon. It had been enhanced with blood iron, heavy iron, and a dozen other metals, letting it hit like an outright hammer. It could be formed into spikes, and shed studied and memorized the exact crystal and mana patterns involved in those spikes in preparation for this.

Her blood was her life. She had spent countless hours, days even, in meditation focused solely upon her blood. Shed intentionally infected herself with a plague and watched as her blood fought it off, studied the ways her cells had, in their own semi-chaotic, semi-organized way, gathered their forces and fought off the invaders. The next time, shed brought her own expertise to bear, physically controlling her immune system to wield it as a weapon against the blight attacking her.

Shed also watched it mend her, and spent so much time controlling it to mend her faster. She knew how it created the scaffolding which the rest of her body grew back over, and how to tweak it to prevent scars, or to make scars appear in a certain way, or how to remove a scar altogether, cutting out the tissue and creating a new shield against those who would harm her.

Shed even killed herself a couple of times, simply to study how her blood responded. She had seen the mana, willpower, and essence coalesce and repair her spirit, keeping it from falling apart even as her body failed. Shed seen the resurrecting power of the phoenix fight off the eternal darkness of death.

Her blood was her heritage. It was her mothers blood which ran through her veins, the same fire which she used as Torch imbuing every last cell, carried in the essence of her bloodline, yet connecting her to every other phoenix who had ever lived.

Shed sought to try and integrate fire more directly into her blood, but that hadnt gone well. There were no known aspects which integrated fire and blood, despite the lifes work of an old Duke whose power was drawn from sacrificing blood in giant braziers. Phoenixes had been a source of inspiration for him, or so he had claimed, but his dream of bloodfire had never materialized.

But her blood was her fire.

Her Concept already could instantly transform drops of her blood into blood-red flames whose ash was simply more blood. Liz had spent weeks slowly burning her blood inside and outside of her body, watching as her Domain smoothly changed blood to fire, fire to ash, and ash to fire. Shed even studied the ash that originated when burning her blood without aid of her Concept, for that too was a part of her blood.

Her blood was her skills. Shed studied skill theory, learning the ways in which her blood changed the aspect of skills she absorbed, studying skills before and after she absorbed them and saw the ways in which her Talent changed or didnt change portions of its structure during the aspect change. Sometimes it was major, sometimes it was minor, but her blood refused to allow any skill to go wholly untouched. Blood worked its way into that part of her life as well, her constant companion in all things. She knew its full mana composition as well. Water, healing, and decay was only the start, to say nothing of her efforts to fully master how to synthesize those as well.

It was her magic as well. Skill-less magic was incredibly hard; triply so for a Pather who just didnt have the time to truly master all the intricacies of their personal mana channels before they Tiered up and changed enough to wipe out any progress. But shed learned it. She knew the ways in which mana was carried alongside blood, the ways it should act when exposed to the ambient mana in particular patterns, how to form resonances with other people, and more besides. Magic was in her blood, and blood was in her magic, and she needed that for her Anchor.

Her blood was her cauldron. Whether inside or outside of her, she knew what she was doing when she utilized blood instead of water in her potions. Sometimes it helped, other times it made it harder. Sometimes she didnt use it at all. But she was an alchemist, and the sanguine was but one of her tools. Shed even physically synthesized blood, beginning with nothing but base materials, and building it up piece by piece until she had a flask of entirely artificial blood. That had given its own form of appreciation for the complexities of blood, which even her memorization of its components couldnt quite manage. Understanding. Something about a years-long process, utilizing tricks which alchemists like herself had perfected over millennia, utilizing tools which she could have scarcely imagined before her awakening, had brought her even closer to the substance that had defined practically her entire life.

Blood was just so much.

Blood was death. Blood was life. Blood was the carrier of disease. Blood was a thing of honor, of filth, of dedication, of family. It was sacrifice, it was food, it was core to vampires and unicorns alike. Blood could sanctify that which was defiled, or defile that which was pure. It could bind or set free, it could empower or oppress. It was a symbol of hope and despair, the rallying cry of the oppressed and the tool of the oppressor. It was rebirth, it was new life, it was fresh death. It was her past, it was her future, it was her everything. It was in her body, it was in her spirit, it was in her skills, it was in her magic.

She was blood, and blood was her.

Her Domain flared, Willpower flowing around her and thumping against her spirit like a massive heartbeat. With it, her blood was carried along by the currents, rushing in unison with her spirit as the two seemed to blend together, joining into perfect harmony as they met-

Lizs breath, held in anticipation for the formation of her Anchor, burst out in a strangled scream as her spirit stumbled, tripping over itself and practically cutting itself in half on the naked blade that her blood suddenly was. Instead of a perfect embrace as the physical met the spiritual, Liz felt her blood blacken and almost rot as her spirit tore itself, and the blood it was trying to connect to, to shreds.

She must have blacked out at some point, because when she was next aware, she was half-on the edge of what was once her pool of blood. It didnt look quite so pleasing now, not that hundreds of gallons of blood ever looked pleasing, but it was a messy, decaying thing, congealed and smoking and sputtering, like the dying gasps of a broken heart. Luna was next to her, extending a hand to help her out, but Liz could barely even manage the effort to reach up to grab it.

Why her manager hadnt just relocated her she didnt know, but after a herculean effort, during which Liz realized blood was pouring from her skin like a leaky sieve, Liz took the womans hand.

From there, she was quickly, but still perceptibly, moved to a healing tank in the next room over. The potions within soothed her and began work knitting her body back together, compensating for the many, many injuries her entire circulatory system had taken.

What did I do wrong?

She wondered.

Luna wasnt providing any insight, so she turned her attention inside. Maybe, if she watched her body and spirit get put back together, she could figure out just what shed need to fix for the next time, what she did wrong.

Besides, she might learn something new. Blood was how the body was repaired after all. So why not her spirit as well?

***

Matt let his hand drop away from the glass, feeling so helpless as Lizs body healed. Hed been disappointed with his lack of progress with his Intent, having come little further than a further refinement of his idea regarding focus. He had been expecting to return to one of the girls already having their Domain established after their month of work, but hed instead found Aster nervously pulling on her ears, and Liz floating eyes closed in a cloud of blood in their healing pod.

So what happened? Matt asked.

I dont know, Luna simply replied, earning a bewildered look from himself and Aster.

How do you not know? Havent you taught hundreds of people how to make their Intent? How do you not know what Liz did wrong?

I could inform you that she failed to make her Anchor, Matthew, but I suspect you would find that answer demeaning. I do not know the source of her failure. Objectively speaking, she is very close. I would not be surprised if she manages to claim her blood as her Anchor within the next five years, and from what I could feel of her attempt, there were no genuine flaws. It simply was not properly compatible. Liz is upon her own journey, determining what her blood is and what it is to her, and my input will not aid in that process. Your insight might, due to the nature of your relationship, but mine would only interfere. However, this close to completion, it is unlikely she could even properly articulate the entirety of her understanding, let alone convey where the problem may lie. This is her journey, her Intent to process, and it is something nigh-impossible to truly understand for any but Liz herself.

Aster annoyedly flicked her tail, and Matt simply reflected upon his own Intent. He knew what Luna meant, as properly trying to convey his intuitive understanding of mana, or Minkalla, or black holes, or even his sword would be essentially impossible, but he wanted to help. He didnt want to be stuck on the sidelines; he didnt want to watch as people hurt just beyond his reach. He wanted, needed even, to be involved.

His spirit sang, but the feeling slipped away before he could push at it too much, but it brought a smile to his face, despite himself.

Wouldnt have thought youd be happy to see me like this, Liz teased, and Matts smile lit up all the more.

Youre awake!

Ive been awake, she countered. Just meditating. Everything hurts, but it looks worse than it is, and I think Ill be out of here in just a few days. Maybe a week and a half after that to be on the safe side of the cooldown.

Good to hear. While you all have had a very productive first month, in that time, a situation has arisen which you three may be uniquely positioned to resolve, should you so choose.

Luna paused as she scanned them before explaining, There was a Tier 22 planet found along the border region between us, the Monster Collective, and the Clans. In the interest of not getting involved in yet another war over it, the higher-ups were going to give up our claim. But, diplomacy has prevailed, and instead, there will be something of a tournament set up. To the winner go the spoils. As two Ascender candidates having recently reached Tier 20, and crucially not involved in the main war, you are our best choices to represent the Empire and win that planet for us. Assuming, of course, you accept.

Matt whistled and looked at the others. Seeing their agreement, he nodded. Well do it.