Chapter 33

Chapter 33

After they left the rift, they teleported back to the city and purchased standard heals from the healers. The light from the healing spells washed over them, and all of Matts nicks and bruises disappeared, along with the deeper stab wound in his side. The cracked ribs were slower to heal, but each breath he took during the process was easier than the last.

They were back to full health, at the cost of a Tier 5 mana stone.

As they left, Matt turned to the disheveled Liz and asked, How come you struggled so much with the boss?

Stupid thing had a mounted Concept. Or maybe it was cavalry. Either way, it was really hard to dismount it. While its ass was planted on that wanna be wolf each attack was stronger, faster, and more precise.

The records never said he had a Concept though.

Ugh. I know. New topic please.

Matt moved the conversation along. You ready to stop delving for the week? The rewards will be mediocre, and were already peak Tier 4. Essence wont do us any good.

Matt felt at his now full spirit, and once again tried to push the essence into the physical side of his cultivation. It didn't budge. He was at the absolute peak for his current Tier. There was just no room left.

Liz simply shrugged in response, not saying anything else. They had already talked about it, but he wanted to make sure that she was alright with it. They walked to a hotel in relative quiet, and booked a room for the final remaining week on the training world.

They got a suite that mirrored their old one. It was another fully furnished room, as neither wanted to spend more time in their sleeping bags than necessary. It wasn't that much more for the extra amenities, and the comfort of a real bed couldnt be overstated.

After a shower, they ambled down to a nearby restaurant and had a veritable feast. They were busy tearing into their food, when Liz finally spoke up.

Ugh. She leaned back and stretched, twitching at the apex. Im so ready to take a break from delving for a bit. Five delves a day really wears a girl down.

Matt sipped at his drink. Yeah, it was tough on me too. And I don't even run out of mana. I wanna pass out for the next week.

Aster seemed content to sit in her booster chair and scarf down the half dozen roasted rabbits she had wanted. Matt decided to try the dish when they came back. It smelled delicious.

Though maybe I wont get six of them.

Any real plans for what we should do or where we should go when we leave? Were pretty much stuck until I complete my image.

Liz was lost in thought, just running her finger around the rim of her mug, and eventually shook her head. It was a long moment later that she yawned and said, No idea. Right now, I need to sleep before I can think.This chapter was first shared on the Ñøv€lß1n platform.

The trio made their way to their suite. Matt was surprised to see Liz grab a blanket and turn the large screen on, instead of going to sleep like she had said during dinner. He decided to join her. The show she put on would help to clear his mind before they went to sleep.

Moments after Aster sprawled over their legs, Matt fell asleep.

***

Waking up, Matt found Liz slumped into him, and felt a crick in his back from bending the wrong way. He checked the time. He had been asleep for five hours.

Using his AI, he turned the screen off, and carried the mage to her bed. Going to his own room, he asked a sleepy Aster where she wanted to sleep. She looked from him to Lizs room, before pattering after him.

They went back to sleep, and it was noon before they finally returned to the world of the living.

Peering out into the dark city, Matt was happy they would be going back to a planet with Empire standard time. He was tired of the sun not being where it should be during the day. It was afternoon according to his body, but the sun had just set a few hours ago. The longer than twenty-four-hour days were something he didnt care for.

Matt found Liz sitting at the small table in the common room, with a mug of something steaming.

Morning.

All he got in response to his greeting was a grunt. They went and got breakfast, and this time, Matt was aware enough to notice that the city was packed. More teams were returning, having either reached the end of their Tier, or simply not wanting to push during the final stretch.

At this point, the rift rewards were abysmal with the essence having been rapidly drained over the last few months. It made Matt wonder about the rewards they could have gotten if they hadnt delved the Tier 5 rift while it was running on fumes. He pushed the what ifs out of his mind. They only could do it when they were able, not when they wanted.

Staring out the window of the restaurant, Matt watched as group after group passed by. They were like schools of fish, weaving and merging before they reached their destination, or took a turn to leave the pod they were moving with.

The odd patrol of guards were like monsters in the water. Each patrol was clearly visible, as they had a ring of clear space. No one wanted to be near the arbiters of justice if they could avoid it.

His idle musings were interrupted by the server coming over to ask if they needed anything else. It was the third time. Matt took the hint, and broke Liz from her own daydreams. There was a line waiting.

Checking his AI, he said, Sorry Diana, well get out of your hair.

Finally able to use his new AI feature, Matt walked out with a peep in his step, pleased at himself. It had taken a few days to work the bugs out, but he had finally gotten it to work at the little encampment. Now, he was able to get peoples names in nearly real-time.

It was worse than the prebuilt module that Liz had purchased with her AI, but it was good enough in the interim.

They returned to their suite, and Matt lazed with Liz on the couch. You know, its a good thing I didnt break into Tier 5.

Huh?

If I broke into Tier 5, Id owe TrueMind a scan of my AI on the back end. So its kinda nice not to have that worry. Ill just get to them when we leave this rock... Where should we go? We have time to burn before we need to hit Tier 5, and were only waiting on me.

Liz yawned, saying, Eh, we can just find a cheap place and take a vacation for a bit. We deserve the break. Aster and I are ready to break through at any time, but its better to do it all at the same time, I think.

She stretched and then curled up, murmuring, Wouldnt feel right if we didnt do it together.

That works for me. Anywhere you want to see? We could take the time to do a bit of sightseeing.

Matt was intrigued at the idea of a vacation. He had never left his city before joining The Path, and could only imagine the views that the thousands of worlds in The Empire had to offer.

He didnt get a response, and saw that Liz was nodding off. Her head was sinking down lower and lower before jerking back up. He got up and pulled one of her feet, getting her to lay down, and draped the blanket over her. He decided to let the girl take the nap she clearly needed.

He decided to head to the gym. It had been months of just breaking a sweat when exercising. Not actually pushing himself.

Each movement of the weights was smooth, the burn of muscles familiar and comforting. It was quite nice to see that he could get off his usual number of reps with more weight than before. He was still growing, and the accumulated essence in his physical cultivation had increased his strength even more. Each rep, he watched the weights defy gravity, and he slowly slipped into the mindlessness of his exercises.

He was watching his triceps flex in the wall-length mirror to check his form, when an explosion rocked the building.

Matt and everyone else started running. Most of the people around him were able to stay calm in the face of the unexpected incident. Some he saw were cowering in fear, with looks of panic across their faces.

Civilians.

Matt didnt know what to think about them. He spent most of his time with people who delved rifts and fought monsters for a living. Pushing the noncombatants out of his mind, he ran to Liz and Aster. They were still in the suite.

When he reached the street the hotel was on, he was stopped by a mass of people staring into the sky. The crowd was so dense that it was impossible to move through them. Frustrated, he gave up his attempts at pushing through, and tried to follow their gaze. Then, he saw what was drawing their attention.

The Tier 25s were fighting. Each blow was sending compressed waves of air smashing into the barrier. It was shaking and going opaque with each blow it absorbed.

Matt saw a figure in black, with circles of light glowing around each foot, dodging the woman suspended in the air on a leaf. They chased each other around through the skies, unleashing devastating blows at one another. The man, Driver, as Matts AI helpfully supplied, was shooting off dozens of blasts of what looked like pure mana.

The woman was wielding a greatsword that was as long as Matt was tall. Each swing sent crescents of flaming energy that burned so hot, Matt could hear the air sizzle during their passage.

They moved out of view, and Matt started shoving his way through the crowd again. Their room was higher up, and the girls were facing the action.

Several concussive blasts later, Matt finally reached the hotel and sprinted up the steps. Using [Mages Retreat], he quickly advanced through the stairwell and reached the suite.

As he ascended the stairs, he had his AI pull up as much information as he could on the Republican Tier 25. He found nothing, not even her name. Cursing the information blackout, he finished his climb.

Tomorrow, we fight.

More murmuring. The crowds may have been wowed by the fight, but most werent enthusiastic about the prospect of a war being started.

All guild members will be expected to fight.

The murmuring turned to cries of exasperation from those in guild colors.

Driver spoke up and silenced everyone. It was like they were being pressed down by the very mountains themselves. The fight will be open to anyone. Those who participate and do well shall receive a Tier 8 skill from my personal collection. The guild will protect everyones life, and performance will be judged by the AIs. We must show our strength.

The guilder floating in the air clenched his fist, and growled out, We cannot let them trample The Empire like this!

That was suspiciously vague. So much so, that Matt didnt quite feel comfortable with the idea. He could sense bullshit when he was presented with it.

Skill shards...

Skill shards...

His mind repeatedly whispered about the potentially significant boost in power if he participated. He was positive that he could put on a good showing with his peak Tier 4 power and half a Concept. It would be hard not to do well enough to get a skill.

Matt looked through his AI, and found that the LocalNet now had an information dossier, as well as a signup roster for the battle.

He checked the rewards registry, and saw hundreds of Tier 8 skills. There were a number of useful skills for all three of them.

Matt looked at Liz, and they silently communicated. They had enough shared experiences, they didn't need to speak out loud.

He signed them up for the battle.

Opportunity came with danger after all. That was the most fundamental rule of delvers.

The masses turned, and started heading down the stairs. Matts team followed, returning to their suite, only to find the windows shattered. They shut their door, and sat together on the couch.

What do you think set them off? Matt asked, but didnt think Liz would know either.

No clue, but they each went all out at the end there. This is trouble.

Matt chewed on her words, and asked about the worst-case scenario. This wont start a true war will it?

Liz looked up, as if she was still watching the clash between Tier 25s. No, I dont think so. True wars are hard to start, and even harder to end. At worst, this is a battle to decide on a treasure or something. I cant think of anything that would set the two Tier 25s off like this. Drivers spending a fortune to pay for the skills he promised.

Matt interjected, A Tier 25 should have a ton of Tier 8 skills. Itd be like pocket change to him.

Sure, but he could sell that to his guild and strengthen them, or sell them on the open market. Most dont keep that many skill shards on them. This smells fishy as hell. Liz pursed her lips, and started fiddling with her braided hair.

Aster felt left out, and yipped at the two.

Matt idly reached down and scratched the little fox. There were risks involved, but the skill shards... If they could get three new skills, it would be a huge step up in their power.

He caught Lizs eyes and asked, Fishy enough that we shouldnt do it?

Liz pressed her hands together tightly and closed her eyes. When she opened them, she replied, No. Not that bad. It should be safe enough for us. Whatever game Drivers playing, it shouldnt affect us.

They went their separate ways after that. Matt wanted to sit and think about what he had seen.

The fight between the Tier 25s gave him insights into his own style of combat. They might not be endless, but they had power.

That was something he wanted. No, something he needed.

Matt pushed into the area in his spirit that his Concept would reside. With a thought, he created the image of the bubbling spring, water rising to the ground with burbles.

With a thought, he erased that image. It was too small. It was the correct shape, and fit the hole in his core, but it would be like building on top of a single brick, not a foundation.

With effort, Matt built the image of a sun, hot and burning. He started with a dull red, the coldest of stars. The image was like an egg, thin and weak compared to the brick that was the image of the spring.

He changed the image to one of an orange star, hotter. The image felt better, but was even thinner, and harder to create.

Matt worked his way up to a white star, second hottest. This image was like cloth, stretched so thin that it was see through.

Finally, with a mental effort, Matt changed the stars color to blue, the hottest star. This image burned with energy. In nature, they burned themselves out quickly, and had short life spans compared to the other celestial bodies. But Matt felt that he could change the image enough to make it work.

This image, even while so poorly formed, had more power than the rest of the images combined. It burned bright with power. This was truly a base that he could use to build a power that would shock the world.

Matt could see it now. Each of his blows would burn away all the opposition. The Republican Tier 25 was a convincing picture of what that power could look like.

Itd be a shame to be fire, with Aster being ice. But this has been the strongest image thats resonated with me so far. I get the feeling that most of the effect would be internal anyway. Some type of inner fire. More metaphoric than literal.

Matt spent the next few hours building the image of the Concept in his mind. He started by firming the red sun, and would build each new star from the experience gained from building the last.

He was drained from the mental exercises, and got up to walk around. He noticed that Liz had sat next to him at some point while he was lost in his training. She seemed to be working on her own image. He decided to leave her to it, and left to walk around the city.

As he wandered, he used the mana control ball that Eric had given him so long ago at Bennys. It twirled around his hand and swirled between his fingers in a complicated pattern.

Continuing his aimless wandering, he started to overhear conversations about the fight. He lingered around to hear a few of the interesting ones, but none of them pertained to anything he and Liz hadnt already thought of.

One conversation caught his attention. I heard that Driver and the Republic leader both found something at the same time. Thats why they started the fight.

The man who said it had a weasley look about him, and the woman he was talking to voiced exactly what Matt was thinking.

What do you know? Where did you hear that? It sounds more like speculation rather than any kind of fact.

The man responded, No, really. My brother is in the guilds guard force. He knows things.

Matt listened a bit more, but the man seemed to be trying to impress the girl, rather than provide useful information. After a few more moments, he moved on.

The best, and what he figured was the most accurate reasoning, was that they simply had pissed each other off. When they couldnt beat each other, they decided to use their juniors to do battle in their stead.

It wasnt a great answer, but why else would Tier 25s fight on a Tier 5 planet?

Returning to their room, he found that Liz had already returned. They both tried to get a good nights sleep, but the anticipation for tomorrows fight was building.

From their room, they could see that the area next to the artificial lake was being fitted with large towers, forming a large perimeter. There were tents filling in the spaces in the sides, with guild standards being set up.

Both sides were not sparing anything to get a battlefield set up.

How many people are going to fight? Thats a two-by-one-mile rectangle. If thats full, thats a lot of people fighting.

Watching the structures go up, Matt tried to plan a strategy for the upcoming fight.

Risk may be paired with danger but he could mitigate that substantially with proper planning.