Chapter 260

Chapter 260

Matt, Liz, and Aster relaxed on the couch for close to half an hour before Mara and Leon's pestering finally got Liz to sit up, where she immediately asked, How did I do?

Ghost Leon stuck a thumb up at her, and in a ghostly voice, warbled, Verrrrry gooooood.

Liz groaned. Dont give me that. Please just tell me how I actually did.

Mara and Leon literally collected themselves, settling back into their normal bodies, and leaned against one another, sharing a glance.

Leon spoke first. You did well. You took this seriously, didnt rise to provocations, but didnt allow anyone to walk over you. Your bearing slipped a few times, but you recovered quickly enough that it shouldnt impact you too negatively. Your worst mess up was when talking to Silvia Dobrescu, and you inquired as to the status of the Silver Star Shipyard instead of the Star Silver Shipyard, but because you caught yourself, it shouldnt cast too great of an aspersion on you. It wont endear Silvia to you any, though.

Liz groaned at the reminder, sinking into Matts shoulder in embarrassment. Thats going to haunt me for the next century.

Or millennia. Herons have long memories.

Do they?

Leon shrugged at Lizs question.

Mara puffed herself up tired of being ignored, Though you really should have been harsher with the baby Maniake. Hes gotten far too comfortable with the perception that hell be the next Beast King, and you shouldnt have been so tolerant with him when he was disrespecting you. You need to ensure he wont think youre weak.

Leon cut in with, Not inherently. As a former Pather, and with the knowledge that shell be an Ascender one day, nobody will think that youre weak. Instead, theyll remember your restraint when dealing with Dominus and balance that against the demonstrations of power you will need to display to prove yourself as an Ascender. People prefer to work with rulers who arent likely to fly off the handle at any moment. Youll hear far, far worse on a daily basis from your subjects, and the ability to take insults without needing to get the last word in is a good sign that you have the mental fortitude to take it.

No, Mara countered. Well the citizen thing is true, but the Maniake isnt one of them. Hell just see someone who might be a terror with a spear but can be cowed by a few pointed words. Theyll see someone with incredible power and no will to truly push it when its needed. Nobody would have thought badly of you, so long as you didnt outright assault the Maniake. You should have pushed back harder when he pushed.

Leon refuted with a shake of his head. No, that was simply his goal, to demonstrate that even at her Majority party she would descend to insulting her guests, that guest status is no protection from her ill temper. If it is strong words when dealing with a higher-Tier individual, would that be violence for those weaker than her, when less of the Empire is watching? The Maniakes respect all kinds of strength, and that includes strength of character. Dominus was certainly just pushing to see if he could get any level of rise out of her, and the fact she kept her temper evenly meant she passed.

She passed, for sure. She passed right by his test to see if he could insult her beyond basic decorum without her contramanding him, to know whether it would be safe for him to speak more negatively about her in other contexts, and simply because he enjoyed it.

Uhhhh. Matt blinked, looking to Liz to see if she was following. She was, and with a contemplative expression on her face.

Mara and Leon stared intensely into one anothers eyes, glaring at each other until sparks of lightning and fire literally flew between them. Then, in just barely imperfect unison, the duo turned to Liz and said, You did well enough, sweetie.

It wasnt perfect, but thats fine. Leon continued.

Youll just need to put in more work managing your reputation is all. Mara bobbed her head like a chicken as she spoke.

Youll be your own type of ruler, not your mother, or even me, and thats perfectly fine. Establishing yourself as imperturbable to insults isnt a bad reputation to have, so long as you meet other provocations appropriately. Your mother isn't wrong there. Being kind is one thing, but a pushover is another.

Mara spoke up the moment Leon paused. Now, that said, we do have more detailed feedback if you want it. Liz, when you first were descending from your entry balcony, your first two steps were out of sync with the music by a quarter-beat. Your third step was fine, but your fourth.

To Matts mild surprise, he and Aster also had their own review sessions in a manner startlingly similar to Lunas usual post-action debriefs, but in far, far less detail than Lizs, a fact which suited him just fine. All that hed really learned from the party was that he did not care for politics and the games of nobles, which put him in the solid supermajority of all historical Ascenders, even those who were nobility by birth.

Something about seeing nobles put so much emphasis on genuinely pointless things, instead of honing their craft or taking care of their people, just did not sit well with Matt. Thankfully, hed be in the position to completely ignore it in much the same way Duke Waters or Lila Worldwalker had. What was the point of groveling and playing nice to maybe get someone of marginal importance to like you, hoping to gain a ten percent discount on services, when doing so would just cause a different socialite to raise their prices by ten times?

If a sword couldnt solve your problems, you just werent trying hard enough.

Especially when it came to nobles. Basically every time an Ascender and noble house clashed, the Ascender came out on top. Lila Worldwalker had once quite publicly destroyed a noble house which tried to short-change her on a deal theyd made. While shed supposedly faced some kind of consequence, nobody really knew what it was beyond it being insignificant. Anything short of outright treason, and sometimes not even that, would ever be really punished for an Ascender.

Besides, even on top of being an Ascender, hed be the one that they come to, asking for mana and services.

So why should he bother with their games?

Still, if Liz wanted to do it, hed do his best to support her. Even if it meant putting up with a week of utterly unbearable snide comments without a word in response. Given what he was gleaning from Asters talk with Mara, she was also interested in exploring her political side, possibly even in succeeding Mara as Beast Queen someday, which he had only thought was a passing comment of hers when she was younger, rather than a serious ambition she was working towards but he would help her as well. Personally hed try to stay as far removed as he could.

When he turned back in, Mara was trying to get Liz to follow her to work and see what a queen did. I do have some meetings and the like you could sit in on. Theyre all on Hestial, though, so youd have to come visit me there at some point. It be fun.

Aster nodded, Yeah, that would be good. Liz, will you be coming?

Liz huffed, I do not want to sit in more meetings if I can help it. Dad, do you have anything that youre up to?

Hmm, well I do have some award ceremonies coming up, and a few dukes I need to knock around, but nothing in your Tier range. If anything comes up, Ill let you know.

As the discussion seemed to be coming to an end, Matt finally spoke up. So what did Luna want?

Mara and Leon looked awkward, but not in the normal way they hammed up for them when they were joking around. Instead, they seemed genuinely uncomfortable. Seeing that, Matt was going to apologize, but Leon shrugged and spoke before he could. It's nothing you won't find out sooner than later, but Frederic and Emmanuel were working on something to solve your mana concentration issue, and they have a working prototype. Luna isnt happy, because if it doesnt work then it will waste your Tier 18 potion, but they also need to test it on you before Tier 20, when even a Tier 45 potion wouldnt be strong enough for a full concentration.

Matt cocked his head as he mulled over the implications. He had no real idea how hard something like that would be, but it sounded impressive. Given that both Frederic and Emmanuel had worked together on this, each of them having basically incalculable amounts of wealth available to them, and only had a prototype ready after what was presumably several decades of work indicated that it probably was very hard.

Then again, he was dealing with immortal timescales now, and a few decades was nothing compared to research projects that had started thousands of years ago and were still ongoing. So maybe it wasnt that hard, and just nobody had ever tried figuring out how to concentrate millions or billions of mana all at once before?

Well, it didnt really matter to him. He was just thankful that they had been working on something for him all this time, and it sounded like theyd been working hard at it. He was also quite curious about how they had accomplished something that he thought would be impossible, but maybe he could find out when he was there.

He also knew Luna, and she would be mad at even the barest chance of something going wrong that would prevent him from attaining his full mana concentration out of a Tier. So her yelling at Mara and Leon made a lot more sense when looked at through that lens.

Still, as Matt let the idea that his mana concentration issues might be solved in the near future sink in, he felt a rush of anticipation and quickly asked, When will it be ready? Is it ready now?

Mara shook her head. Not that quickly, give it a few months. They want to run some final checks on all the equipment before you step into it.

With the mental image of stepping into something, Matt got the idea of a giant device like a sleeping pod that would protect him as massive energies swirled around and into him.

Matt did what he did best.

He pushed back.

No matter the obstacle, the trial, the tribulations he encountered in his life, he resisted, and this was no different.

Even at the center of the device, with his spirit nearly being torn to shreds, Matt accepted the situation and resisted with everything he had. He was the center of a lot of fights and this wasnt so different.

As seconds turned to minutes, and minutes to hours, and hours to days, Matt kept the thought that he needed to push through firmly in the center of his mind. It was all he had and all he was for what felt like an eternity, but it ended eventually.

Even when the pain eventually lessened, it didnt stop. He felt like he had used [Cracked Mana Spear] for a full hour past the point he should have.

He was loosely aware of someone grabbing him, carrying him somewhere else, and he opened his eyes to find himself being held by Liz. She said something that he didnt quite catch, then set him down in a blissfully comfortable chair.

A few healing spells later, Matts bodily sensations had returned, leaving him only with the vague feeling of his spirit having been crushed by a spaceship. With the increased awareness came the realization that his chair was surrounded by diagnostic tools, more akin to a hospital bed than a normal recliner. It was a modified medical bed, and he was being scanned while the healers were running various tests.

For the frown on Mara and Leon's face, Frederic, the researchers, and even Luna had relieved and happy expressions.

Frederic turned to Matt and smiled. A perfect success from everything we can see. Try refilling your mana please.

While he would have much rather used his houses mana stone- the bond he shared with it meant its mana concentration automatically increased when his did- it was still back at their suite in Mara and Leons house. Instead, he had a rechargeable mana stone already mostly attuned to him, and after a few minutes to get it used to his new concentration, he began to fill it like he had so long ago when he was a low Tier.

Except, nothing happened for a long moment. If Matt didnt intricately know his own Talent and how it worked, he would have started worrying about his mana pool being permanently broken, but he could feel he was producing mana, just an astronomically small amount. It seemed like his total mana pool had been reduced well past the 0.1 units of mana which the potions normally took him to.

After what felt like forever he was able to bootstrap himself back to his normal 327,680 and he couldn't wipe the smile off his face. The testing showed the potion and formation worked beautifully, and provided nearly twice as much mana concentration as the usual potion would have.

Is there no way I can go in again? I know we can't use the potion again, but can we use it without the potion? You said the original was like that?

Mara opened her mouth, but Frederic spoke first. While I love the enthusiasm, that would be inadvisable with the current iteration. The potion helps mitigate a large portion of the damage to your spirit. We can look into non potion uses of the formation, but the current iteration of the design can't work without it. Besides, you don't really have time for your spirit to recover on The Path to maximize the concentrations in each Tier, and neither do I think you need to. You can make up the difference when you are Tier 25, and have time to sit at a Tier for a while. In a hundred years, Im sure the team can refine the device quite a lot, and possibly create a potion that can be used twice, or some kind of formation that doesn't need a potion. Even if it's less efficient per use and amount of spiritual strain. For now, that isn't a possibility.

Matt nodded to that as he started answering the questions of the researchers present. There were only a dozen of them, and he had been assured they were trusted and vetted by the Emperor himself, so he happily answered any questions as they took copious notes and readings of his body.

While they didnt focus on his mana generation, he could see the interest burning in their eyes, and so he happily told them about some of the modifications he had done to runes and other ways he abused his Talent. Getting these people on his side would create a fantastic core team for his guild, even if he didnt mention the guild in particular, just some of his ideas about how to use his mana to help everyone.

He might not have taken to the noble doublespeak lessons, but he knew enough to slowly reel the researchers in instead of putting out an offer immediately.

Still, it was an enlightening conversation to hear them talk about their work and ideas, even if he couldn't understand most of it. When he looked at the plans, they actually knocked him out for almost a full ten minutes, and when he woke up, he couldn't even remember what he had seen. That signaled the end, as Mara and Leon politely but firmly put their feet down and insisted the team had done enough tests, and they were going home.

Under normal circumstances, Matt would have protested, but given how utterly exhausted he was, all he really wanted was to crawl into bed for a good day or twelve of sleep.

Even as he slipped into the impossibly comfortable bed, his mind raced at the opportunities this opened up for him. It wasnt a perfect solution, but as the researchers said, this was very much version one of their formation, and he could expect improvements with each time he used it and gave them more data to work off of.

That opened him up to other ideas for his Intent and his mind raced even as he started to slip into sleep.

Possibilities. So many possibilities.

***

Geneva looked out to where the young man left the room, followed by two royals and an incredibly famous, sometimes infamous, manager.

King Frederic looked at her the moment the door shut, and there was a hardness in his eyes. I hope you and your team now better understand why this project is top secret.

Geneva nodded even as she felt some of her fellows growing nervous. Clearly, they were thinking they were going to be killed to keep this information under lock and key, but Geneva knew the Emperor better than that. As long as they kept their mouths shut, they would be fine. She could also foresee a massive increase in security for the coming decades, but that was hardly a passing thought for her.

All she could focus on was the reward for this job: any project she wished to work on would be fully funded. It would only be for a single project, but the budget in treasures, labor, and mana for a proper project could verge on the incomprehensible.

Geneva had thought that was an idle promise at the time, but seeing the boy's Talent and his mana returning from a fraction of a single unit of mana to hundreds of thousands of mana over the course of an hour, she now knew that promise was sincere. That was amazing enough, but given the boys mana output would grow to even more staggering heights, she might have been dreaming too small.

She was just contemplating which of the fanciful projects she had only dreamt of when it felt like the world was going to collapse around her, and she turned to see the Emperor standing next to Alice.

His voice was calm as he said, Im sorry, but I can't let you do that.

Even as Alice started to tremble and started to apologize, the Tier 50 shook his head. Even a fleeting thought of selling the information about Matthew can not be allowed, as there was a chance you would have acted on it. I wont kill you, but I will be putting you in a more secure facility until there is no danger from the leak.

As everyone processed that, the Emperor added, Do be sure that none of you attempt to use any form of communication other than the official channels as I will be watching and there will be no second chances.

Before any could do anything, even agree, The Emperor and Alice were both gone like they had never been there.

Geneva shook her head at the foolishness. Alice was smart, but apparently, her greed was larger than her work. What need was there for monetary wealth at their Tier when even a single research project could cost trillions of mana, and getting that funding meant selling your inventions to the highest bidder?

Even funding for a single research project was fleeting compared to the goodwill she might earn from exemplary service on a project that most of this generation of royals had a large stake in. Finding an in with Matthew, solving a problem he had and forming a connection while he was young, was an added bonus that she would be able to leverage to fund even more research.

Best of all, the kid seemed genuinely interested in their work, and his own comments about formation and enchanting showed he had a foundation in the sciences.

Maybe hed make a guild if he didnt, he might intend to make a noble research group through his connection with Queen Mara and King Leon. Guilds were better, as they offered more freedom for their members, but shed happily sign a restrictive research contract for dedicated access to twenty-eight billion mana a day. Even in her wildest dreams, she wouldn't have imagined a mana budget that large, but she was sure her fantasies would be full of ideas in the coming years.

Even as she listened to King Frederic, she was already starting to plan out the next series of refinements to the formation, just as she was planning what project she wanted to focus on in the future.

The possibilities seemed endless.