The Path of Ascension

Chapter 122

Matt walked through the crowd and pointedly ignored the waiter as he snagged a champagne flute off their tray and weaved his way through the crowd.

He had to be careful with his actions; the Tier 35 mask he wore wasnt as simple as a mask for hiding one's face. It was a shape-changing device, given to Pathers to keep their anonymity, but it did so much more. The mask could forcefully change the body as well, making someones physical appearance completely different.

With it on, Matt was no longer his 64, bulky self, but a more slender 511. It was odd to see things from so far below his usual viewpoint, but in the last dozen training scenarios, he had been forced to learn how to quickly adapt to various changes in form.

The training hadnt changed how uncomfortable it was to be squeezed into a smaller form. Matt felt like he was stuffed into a sweater three sizes too small, that managed to itch and pull all over.

Seeing Baroness Sylvia Von Dreyfuss glance at him, Matt smiled and sauntered up to her.

Good evening Baroness. I must congratulate you on your investiture. Getting the marquess to come here personally and pass your father's title down was a huge boon to your future rule.

The Tier 15 woman batted her eyes and nodded slightly. Thank you, Adam. And yes, it was quite nice of his lordship to come out this far. It made for a splendid evening.

Matt kept up his idle chatter for a minute before stepping away and heading to the edge of the ballroom. He had played his part in this phase of the plan, and distracted the region's newest Baroness. More importantly, he occupied her bodyguards long enough for Liz to slip into the castle proper.

Usually, an out of place person walking around would be instantly noticed by the Tier 15s, with their greater spiritual perception. But with so many other powerful and influential people around, no one was willing to expand their sense out to more than a few inches away from themselves.

Knowing that the groundwork had been laid, Matt moved to the side of the room and joined a circle of random nobles. They were rambling on about something to do with the newest batch of wine that a famous local vineyard had shipped. He followed none of the conversation, but tuned in at the mention of some scandal regarding the vineyard mislabeling a collection of wine as a lower quality. The nobles snickered about it like it was the most embarrassing thing to happen all year. He couldn't understand why it was such a hot topic, but just nodded along with the crowd, trying not to be noticed.

When his AI indicated that the proper time for his next step in the plan was nearing, he entered a nearby bathroom. After closing the door of the lavish room, he quickly stripped his outer layer of clothes, and his face changed once again.

Watching the timer on his AI countdown, he slipped out of the window and started climbing the exterior of the building as fast as he could.

He only had a forty second window to scale the exterior of the building. They were using the setting sun and its accompanying solar eclipse as a distraction, which was the highlight of the evening's investiture.

As Matt climbed, he started to get nervous. His every sense not occupied by climbing was on high alert, scanning for anyone sounding the alarm. He was wearing clothes that would almost perfectly match the building's exterior during the eclipse, but he was still a moving object on a surface that shouldn't have any.

While the Baroness was more of a politician, who only fought on the backline as a mage, her bodyguards were all seasoned delvers.

If one of them turned around to look at the building, instead of keeping their eyes on the crowd, he would be spotted for sure.

With two seconds left to spare, Matt reached the ninth story window, and to his relief, found that it was open as planned.

He climbed through just as the day was brightening. Quickly spinning, he closed the window and paused to listen.

Hearing nothing that would indicate he had been spotted, he cursed the estates planners for having such a solid anti-flying formation. It might have been standard protocol, but it had complicated things.

Brushing off his hands, Matt checked the room and found the cabinet that Liz had stashed a change of clothes in. Unfortunately, not being able to use spatial devices without setting the AI off made this job one of their most complicated yet.

If nothing was amiss, she would have converted to a servant as well.

Directing his mask to change his form once again, Matt wiggled as the changes set in, and his form once again shrunk down.

Once he was in the yellow and black of the Von Dreyfuss, he stepped out of the room and joined the bustling crowd of servants. While the party was calm and collected for the guests, things were quite hectic for the servants.

Matt and Liz had ensured just that, with some carefully changed shipments and a few key people becoming violently sick over the past two weeks.

None of them were made sick for the event itself; there was a healer on staff to ensure that it wouldnt be an issue. But they managed to make things more difficult for the event staff.

They had added a little chaos into the event, which gave them just the opening they needed.

Coming into the storeroom with a false flush on his face, Matt asked, Am I late? Sorry, I got all turned around.

He swallowed visibly as his manager glared at him and rubbed his eyes, grumbling about the anti-AI formation that had been set up in the castle itself. It wasn't able to stop anyone from using their AI, but it would notice such things and alert the security staff. It was a headache no one wanted, not even those in charge.

It was one of the more interesting protective formations that Matt had learned about during their planning of this operation. It was used to protect the noble family's privacy in the more secured sections of their estates.

The other jobs they had done in the last five years hadnt been nearly as hard.

Matt saw a dark-haired woman enter, with a bunch of trays precariously perched on her one hand as she tried to open the door. If everything was on track, that was Amanda. And her being there meant that Liz had already replaced her.

Sally, the manager, looked to Amanda and said, Bret, go help Amanda. I already filled your position on the serving team.

Matt winced and lowered his head. If he was the real Bret, he would be devastated at the demotion. Back-end staff didnt make a quarter of the wages that the more prestigious front-end staff did.

For a young man who had worked his way up two restaurants position ladders, and had finally been poached for a noble family, it would be a disastrous blow to his career.

It was perfect for what Matt and Liz wanted, and April had done a fantastic job in creating the identities they were using.

As he stumbled over apology after apology interlaced with excuses, Matt rushed to help Amanda with the trays of food, taking some hurriedly from her precarious grasp.

Together, they moved down to the prep station and passed off the trays, so they could be loaded onto carts. During their trek back to the kitchens, they took an alternate tunnel and started jogging down the hall.

They didnt say a word to each other. If they were both here, they had clearly handled their portions of the job. Besides, speaking out of turn was what had gotten them caught in their sixth job. Spending the evening in the local jail had been humiliating, coupled with the knowledge that they would have been successful if they hadnt talked at the final meet-up point.

Pausing at the doors at the end of the hall, Matt listened as Liz pulled a lockpick out of her pocket. If this wasn't a simple door in an unimportant portion of the building, it would have been secured with a far more impressive lock. They probably would have needed anti-enchantment gear to disarm it. Still, they were happy to take advantage of the lapse in security.

It was adjacent to the more important noble quarters, and with their prior planning, they had ensured that a window was reporting itself as always closed to the main security grid, despite its current state.

As they opened the window and started climbing the tree, Matt took a second to pause and enjoy the courtyard.

It was a beautiful setup, and he admired it during the time it took Liz to shimmy over to the edge of the balcony.

They took the fifteen-foot jump with the grace of peak Tier 8s, and landed without a sound.

Opening the small glass door was easy enough, but they had to worry about the security systems that would alert the guards about said opening.

It was the most dangerous part of their plan, as it was the one obstacle that they couldn't deal with. If the system was tampered with, the Tier 15 using his AI to monitor the castle would instantly notice. Even if they tried to falsify the signal, there was a near-certain chance that the AI would detect their tampering.

If their intelligence was correct, the door would have already been tampered with, and wouldn't report in. But that information was three weeks old, and neither of them were confident that the security team would neglect to fix it by now. But they didn't need the door to be broken; it would just make their next steps a lot easier.

It only took a second of inspecting the frame to see it had been repaired. New enchantment lines were visible.

Matt shook his head to Liz.

It meant they had to go in loud.

With only the slightest hesitation, Matt pulled the door as hard as he could, with [Mages Retreat] pulling all of his mana. His strength was more than doubled, and with his full allocation into physical cultivation, along with the Tree of Perfection, he was able to break the door.

The tiny latch holding the door shut wasnt his goal. No, that was made from Tier 15 metal, which was still beyond Matt's ability to break. The glass, on the other hand, was stronger for being Tier 15, but it was glass. Glass didnt scale nearly as well in strength as metals did as they Tiered up.

As Matt pulled the door, it bent the frame just enough for the glass to shatter.

Liz was already moving the moment the glass was broken, and Matt was right on her tail.

They entered the room and shoved storage rings into mundane bags they had prepared. These were the gifts that the various other nobles had prepared and given. The most valuable gifts immediately went into the vaults, so these rings were the more mundane offerings.

But one of them contained the operations current target.

If they had been able to enter the Duchess chambers quietly, they would have stealthily gone through them with the scanner they brought. But now, they were racing against the clock.

Taking everything was the best way to ensure that they got their target, after all.

They quickly ran out of the broken door as they heard shouting and boots approaching the door.

Matt flexed his Concept and lifted both of them out of the courtyard as the door behind them opened, and a [Mana Bolt] raced through to the spot they had just occupied, singing the metal framework and charring the wood.

They only needed to get to the edge of the wall to leave the anti-flight formation, and they would be able to fly away on Matt's newest, Tier 11 flying sword. Despite the guards being Tier 15, there was no way they would be able to keep up with Matt once they got on his sword. He had custom-made the weapon himself, with a little help from Erwin.

It was a sword meant for one thing.

Speed.

Matt was able to utilize his prodigious mana generation to power the sword, and outrace any commercial flying swords within a five Tier range.

Liz shouted from his arms, Six flying with Concepts and two with skills! I think one is [Puddle Jumper]. I don't recognize the other one.

Matt flexed his Concept and tried to carry them along faster, but he was trying to carry two people and reduce their air resistance, which was incredibly taxing to his abilities.

Still he had practice with the ability and that mattered more than Tier.

Liz, facing the rear, sent magical attacks to provide cover, while giving Matt an AI-powered feed to know exactly where the enemys attacks were coming in from, and where they would likely land.

She managed to intercept most of the attacks with skills from her outer spirit, but Matt was forced to dodge more than a few, which only slowed them down further.

The guards were nearing them when they hit the edge of the estate and its restrictive formations.

Not hesitating for a second, Matt called his flying sword from the building where he had stashed it, and it raced over.

The two of them landed with a thud, then took off.

The city streaked before them as they raced between the skyscrapers.

The capital of the planet they were on was old and well established. Having moved four times as the planet was Tiered up to its current Tier 11, the capital had finally been placed in its current location, near a man-made inland sea. The new placement gave it protection from rift spawning, without the need for another mana expensive formation.

It was almost a necessity with how old the planet was. When Matt had first arrived in the more settled worlds in the Empire, he had been shocked at the lack of ambient mana.

His first breaths had felt like something was missing in the air he breathed. It didnt affect his or anyone else's mana generation, but the lack was noticeable, especially when powering enchantments. It was impossible to have the ambient mana power a formation, or even lower the cost, as he had done countless times before. Everything had to be provided by mana stones, or sold to the enchanter by the city.

The city was worse than the more remote places of the planet, but few of those were left, with the planet having been settled for so long.

The capital had massive mana gathering formations that sucked in all of the ambient mana from the surrounding farmland around the cities.

Ironically, nearly a quarter of the mana was sent right back out to those same crops, as the vineyards were responsible for the planet's largest export.

That same lack of mana gave Matt his largest advantage in running away from higher Tier fighters.

All of the guards needed to provide the mana to chase after them themselves, which meant they would need to burn a lot of mana stones to catch up to him, and not be too drained for any subsequent fight. Once he had felt how mana parched the area was, Matt knew that it was a weakness he could take advantage of.

Finding a straightaway that led directly out of the most built-up section of the city, Matt turned off the air parting enchantment, and entirely relied upon his Concept to cut through the wind.

He thought of it more like being a zipper moving wind around him, which was the mental image that helped him avoid slamming into a wall of his own making. Despite his copious amounts of training, it was still difficult to manage, and Matt was grateful that all the spells flying at him stopped. A stray thought meant a barrier that would get them caught.

Their pursuers were unwilling to attack in the city, it seemed; a fact that Matt took full advantage of by flying straight over the main thoroughfare. Not needing to slow down to dodge or turn meant that he quickly pulled even further away from the guards.

They had just left the city's limits when a man in a yellow suit appeared directly in front of them.

With a gesture, the two of them were captured safely and suspended in the air. It was done so cleanly that even their massive momentum had been dissipated, and they were held still by the man's will.

They had successfully made it.

Getting to the edge of the city was when Kurt or Luna would step in and return whatever they stole, then they would leave the planet for some place where they hadn't pissed off the local powersyet.

The sound around them vanished as Kurt spoke.

Both he and Liz had been shocked to learn that the mans not speaking was a result of his Talent. He was able to bewitch anyone at or under his Tier with just his words.

If they had exceptional willpower backed by a strong Concept, Intent, or Aspect, they could fight back. At least, in theory. Kurt fully admitted he went all-in on his Talent with his CIAs.

There were few people at even Tier 36 who could resist his voice.

They had even watched him tell a rift monster to kill itself, and the beast turned its head so hard and sharply that its spine snapped. It twitched and shuddered for a moment, then fell still as its brain stopped all function at the suggestion.

He never let them hear his voice, so they could only guess at what he was saying to the guards, but from the nods and lack of tension, Matt believed that he was using the same excuse they usually did.

The story usually went something like, Kurt was a passing Tier 35 who witnessed the escape and decided to step in.

As the bag they had shoved all the spatial rings into was lifted from Lizs unresisting grasp, Matt mentally nodded while putting on an outwardly angry expression. Luna had been furious when they celebrated their first successful mission during their capture.

The goods were returned to the lead guards with a plethora of thanks in return. Angry glares were shot their way along with smug looks that Matt interpreted as you might have escaped us, but you still got caught anyway.

The ease at which the guards simply let Kurt lead them away to jail was only possible with the man's Talent bending their minds.

Kurt's Talent would make the guards believe that was the natural course of action. So Kurt would say something like, I'll take them to jail as is standard protocol. which would change what the guards thought of as standard protocol.

That was the danger of Kurts Talent. They would forever think what he said was true, so he tried to avoid talking unless absolutely necessary. Later, he would have to go back to them and give careful instructions to remove his earlier enchantments, so they could return to normalcy.. It was confusing at first, but the more Matt considered it, the more it made sense after the first couple jobs.

If Kurt suggested that a suspect or burglar be entrusted to someone stronger, like himself, that could cause serious problems as they carried out their duties later on. . They would be susceptible to someone conning them, just as he was doing. The nobles security were innocent in this, so Kurt made sure to return them to their proper state.

He was unable to remove a suggestion, but he had learned how to give counter instructions that neutralized previous manipulations.

After learning about what Kurt had been going through his entire life, Matt felt awful for him, but the man just shrugged it off, writing that he did fine and learned to live with it.

He even stressed that he was able to speak if he was only in the presence of higher Tier people than himself, but he liked to be careful so a careless comment didnt hurt someone.

After Kurt finished with the guards, he pulled Matt and Liz through the fabric of reality and into Lunas ship outside the world.

They were allowed to wash up and spend some time with Aster before they were debriefed.

As soon as the two entered the room that had been designated as their briefing room, Luna appeared and sat with her back to the wall-sized screen. She spoke to them the way she usually didas if she had seen and knew all.

It wasn't a bad operation, but what could you have done better?

Matt hated how she debriefed them. It was a test in and of itself, which they could and had previously failed.

Liz sank onto the couch as she said, I had a problem getting changed into Amanda's form and convincing the other staff why I was coming in from the public entrance. That could have cost us, but I was able to make up the time.

Luna brushed off the remark with a dismissive wave. That was handled well enough. What else?

Matt offered, I'm still not completely comfortable with changing shape. It makes it hard to move.

Luna kept looking at him and he, not knowing what she was waiting for, kept silent.

Finally, Luna blinked and asked, What did you learn about the noble children you talked to, Matt?

He had to resist the urge to sigh.

When they had planned out their operation, Matt had intended to take Lizs place infiltrating the servant's quarters. He spent over a year working at Bennies and knew how to keep his head down to not be noticed while working.

With all the security formations they had running through the castle, it was essentially a mundane help staff section.

Instead, Luna had forced him into the role that required him to talk to the other nobles.

There was some mess up in a vineyard. He squinted as he tried to recall, Something about mislabeling their better vintage and selling it for cheap.

Matt trailed off and then looked to Luna, who just glared at him.

Did you ask around? About which vineyard it was?

Despite knowing that he was going to regret it, he answered honestly. No. It didn't seem important, and I wanted to remain as unnoticed as possible.

Luna rolled her eyes as she said, If you had asked, you would have found out the incident happened because the vineyard had a breach in security, and the old manager ran off with a few storage rings full of a rare vintage. That entire sector of the city's defenses was compromised, which would have been a great avenue to leave the city. You're lucky the guards weren't willing to activate the city defenses, or we would have needed to fail the mission and capture you early. If you'd used your human resources at the party, you could have ensured one less complications in your escape.

Matt winced as the rest of the debriefing proceeded. He didnt like talking to the nobles; they seemed to act so superior. They just radiated an air of superiority that he found hard to deal with, let alone mimic.

He was self-aware enough to know that it was something he needed to work on, and if he didnt take steps to rectify the situation, Luna would keep pushing him into scenarios where he would need to deal with the insufferable elites.

When the debriefing ended, Luna looked almost hesitant as she said, Theres an opportunity for the three of you. A situation to put your skills to the test for real.

Matt perked up, as did Aster. Liz looked more hesitant and wary.

The screen behind Luna changed to show a new planet that seemed less settled than the populous cities that theyd spent the last five years in.

A local noble has requested assistance from the Imperial government to help pin down the location of some missing people that she suspects were taken by a local guild. Viscountess Alara has conducted her own investigation, but was able to find any proof of foul play.

Liz leaned forward as she tapped at a pad detailing the information that Luna made available.

She didnt find anything, but she still thinks theyre responsible? She frowned and continued to rifle through the information present. From what I can see, she looked through the entire guild top to bottom to try to find any discrepancies in their records or actions. It seems like there wasnt any evidence of wrongdoing.

Liz looked over to Matt and asked, What are we missing?

Matt had been going through the notes on the disappearances, and his AI noticed the discrepancy he believed that Viscountess Alara had seen.

The first three unexplained murders in the city had happened near the guild. Those three had been written off as random homicides at first, but after the more organized string of kidnappings had begun taking place across the planet, the Viscountess had reviewed those first few murders a second time.

The seemingly unconnected murders had all happened within days of each other, and within a two-mile radius of the guild's local headquarters.

They were in stark contrast to the seemingly random disappearances; some of the victims went missing during explorations into the unknown, or were taken from crowded cities. There was no rhyme or reason to the disappearances, except a general once-a-week pattern of three or four people going missing.

Matt looked up and asked, What does this have to do with us? I'm sure there must be a task force to deal with this sort of thing.

Luna sighed. The noble in question doesn't want this getting out. It's her territory, and more than three dozen people have gone missing so far. She publicly investigated the guild, which is now using that failed investigation to imply that the noble isnt capable enough to rule the planet, and the subordinate planets that report to her. The head of the noble family she reports to, Count Rendall, is siding with the guild, making things even more complicated for her, and in turn, the investigation.

Hesitantly, she added. I know the great grandmother of this one. She was an old mentor who helped me out when I was young and just finding my feet in a world of immortals. Alara must have heard I was active, and asked for my help.

Aster asked the question floating around in Matts head, Then why dont you go deal with it?

Luna shrugged. It's very much not my place if she doesn't want to bring in the officials. She believes Count Rendall is either using this as a method to knock her down and remove her from power, or worse, hes in league with whoevers truly behind the disappearances. Luna took a careful breath before continuing to explain. She can bring this to the attention of a higher authority, but if she does, and it turns out shes in the wrong, Count Rendall will have her out on her ass. Shes playing into his hands if he does have designs on her planet and subordinates. And with the disappearances having ceased temporarily after the investigation into the guild, she would look stupid if she were to continue. Hes personally told her to leave it alone since theyve stopped, and the issue seems to have been taken care of already.

Liz pointed out that Luna didnt answer the question. But how does that involve us? I'm happy to fake rob people and slip letters into their pockets, but there are real things at stake here. So why don't you just go and investigate the entire planet, since she cant?

Their manager smiled and motioned to the three of them. It's a good opportunity for you three to learn in a real environment. If needed, I will step in and solve it, but if a few passing Pathers solve the issue, it keeps things a little more under wraps. I won't let the issue go unresolved, but this is a good chance for you all. It's good practice for applying most of our training so far. Youll need to recon everything yourselves and investigate the issue. Then youll have to infiltrate the base of the alleged guilty party, and gather evidence. At that point, capturing or killing the suspect or suspects would be left up to your discretion.

Matt shook his head. All of that is something you can deal with in a second.

Luna just met his eyes as she said, I have a good handle on the situation, and its something right up your alley.

Seeing that the three of them clearly werent fully convinced, Luna looked directly at Matt and said, Think of it this way, investigating these murders and disappearances could allow you to discover ways to protect yourselves without further relying on the good nature and will of those stronger than you. To remain out of the box you so desperately hate.

She affixed Liz with a knowing side eye. Knowing how to infiltrate a building and kill a target helps you prepare for what, Elizabeth?

Liz sighed and muttered, For those same attempts against us. She thought some more and then looked to Matt. And if someone were to try and take you, we could come up with countermeasures against that.

But weve prepared for those kinds of things. Matt insisted, and glared at the world on the screen behind their Manager. How is this different? Other than giving us a little more experience.

Consider it taking off the training wheels for a brief attempt at independence, and a better way to gauge your skills, hmm? Knowing Luna wouldn't tell them more, Matt looked to Liz and Aster to gauge their reaction.

They had spent the last five years pulling jobs like the one they had just finished, and doing something real, like stopping a rogue guilds conspiracies and murders, seemed worthwhile to him. Sure, the added bonuses were nice, if they ever came to pass, but those were only what ifs that they had to prepare for as best they could.

Liz seemed more hesitant, but Aster was all for it. She had been forced to sit out on most of the jobs they pulled, only able to help with the scouting and prep work.

Liz carefully said, This seems important. I don't know if we can handle this.

Matt understood, but disagreed. It's only a Tier 10 planet, and the local guild leader is only Tier 15. There isn't a lot that can go wrong with that, unless we get into a fight. And if that happens, we have Luna to back us up. I doubt security will be tighter here than in the well established guilds and noble estates that weve had to worm our way into.

They couldn't fight a Tier 15 straight up, but Matt felt that if Luna wanted them to get involved, they were dealing with someone they could handle. Even if the guild leader was involved, they had broken in and stolen from Tier 15s often enough. They shouldn't have any issues.

Liz cracked her neck and nodded. Let's at least go take a look. I don't like the idea of people being murdered, or I guess kindapped. But let's be honest, anyone whos missing is more than likely dead.

Matt sadly agreed with that statement.

After telling Luna, they agreed to take a look.

They spent the next two weeks training and reviewing their strategies for what they would do when they reached the planet.

When they arrived, they had Luna put them on the nearest planet, and they teleported in like ordinary people trying to advance by moving to a higher Tier planet.

At least, that was their official story. They were a team of Tier 8s just trying to reach a planet with an abundance of Tier 8 rifts.

As the planet was one of the stronger ones in that sector of space, it wasnt an unusual story, and no one would look into their backgrounds too hard. Considering they were fake aliases made for them by April, they needed to remain innocuous, so their newest identities weren't even Pathers. They paid their way like anyone else.

Changing their appearances slightly, they made their way through the teleporter and did what anyone who came to a new world would do. They booked a room in a hotel and started inquiring about rifts for Tier 8s. They in no way needed a rift at their own Tier, but their cover stories dictated that they were mid-Tier 8s who took a bad injury, and needed to sell their delve slot on their last world to help cover the cost of healing.

Unable to get the slot back, they decided to change planets and try their luck elsewhere.

With veils, they were mid-Tier 8, and what they hoped would be prime targets for the guild that was taking people. Tier 8s had been the most widely abducted people by far, with a smattering of lone Tier 9s and a single team of Tier 10s.

They made sure to talk to a lot of people, and got their fabricated story about being new and delving without backing out to as many locals as possible.

By their third day on the planet, they had already scouted the guild and had preliminary reports on all of its members, when they woke up to a discovery that made them pause.

That night, as the investigators slept, someone had taken three of the guilds personnel; all of whom had been out in the city.