The Path of Ascension

Chapter 230

With a sigh, Matt looked out over the pristine beach just a mile away from their villa’s sprawling, immaculate lawn that gave a nice contrast to the stunning ocean view. The perfect scene was complemented by perfect weather; it was warm, but not too hot thanks to the slight breeze that gently rustled the curtains every few minutes.

It was a level of luxury that he just wasn’t used to, but it was wonderful.

It was also absurdly picturesque, and the technology around was so advanced, it was an active struggle to not think about all of the borderline miraculous materials and enchantments that pervaded his spiritual sense. He was only able to contain himself because Liz had assured him that her parent’s house had just as much and more, and if he got distracted by the windows every time he walked past one, she would not be happy.

Overall, Matt couldn’t think of a better place for their wedding anywhere in the Empire.

Matt stretched and returned to the villa —careful to not think about the windows as he did so— and slipped behind Liz, giving her a hug from behind. His fiancee was in her bathing suit as well, something he could appreciate for several reasons, and had just finished blending fruit for a pair of cocktails.

Matt released Liz from his hug and grabbed his sour melon drink, taking a deep sip.

He smacked his lips together as the flavor hit. It was awful in the best way.

Liz laughed. “Just as gross as promised. It’s a fun tradition, at least.”

“I mean, the individual flavors aren’t that bad,” Matt mused. “It’s just too sour. Maybe if it were cut with some talsaneris sugar, the grapefruit would play better with the icemelon? I should see if we have any, or if the kitchens have some.”

Liz hooked her arm through his and walked him to the beach, where a number of umbrellas and lounge chairs were set up and waiting for them.

“We can go to the kitchens later,” she finally cut him off. “It’s a local treat, and one that definitely fits the theme of the continent. We had to have at least one as-is.”

Matt clinked glasses with her at that comment. Liz was right. They needed to relax, enjoy themselves, and do all the normal things that people did when the parents of the bride bought out an entire island for their wedding on one of the most expensive resort planets in the Empire.

It was fun.

Once Matt had finished the cocktail, he pulled out a cooler from his spatial ring that had a number of prepared drinks ready for the two of them.

Grinning, he showed Liz the projected spinning wheel on the lid. “Want the first spin?”

Liz grinned back as she stored her glass away and spun to sit up with him. “You said you only made a few of these. What are the rest?”

Matt grinned and shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. I ordered half a dozen alcohol tasting bundles and dumped them in the cooler. The ones I made are our favorites, though.”

Liz rubbed her hands together before flicking the little projected wheel. “Fuzzy Buzzy Bottle? I've never heard of this brand before.”

Matt waited for the cooler to whirl and make noises until the lid opened on its own and shot out two cans. When he caught them, he had to laugh. The drinks, as the name implied, had a false peach fuzz on the bottle, which was itself slightly pliable. Tossing the matching pair to Liz, they opened it up by peeling off the ‘skin’ at the neck of the bottle, and each took a swig.

Liz recoiled even as she laughed. “Oh, it's awful. That's outright bad.”

Matt went back for a second sip and agreed wholeheartedly.

Liz started poking the air as she said, “I’m ordering us some finger food, at least to go with this.”

They sat and soaked in the heat for a few minutes until a box of snacks, specially prepared by the island’s chefs, teleported onto the table closest to them.

They enjoyed themselves for a while before cooling off in the ocean, splashing around on the surface as well as on the seafloor, holding their breath as they watched the sea life dart around them. Matt wasn’t sure how they managed to restrict the wildlife to only be Tier 15 and under, and Liz’s warning glance told him he shouldn’t think about it too deeply. So, he simply appreciated that they didn’t need to worry about a passing Tier 17 juvenile shark getting too curious while he and Liz were preoccupied with each other.

They also had absolutely none of their gear with them, save for their paired teleportation rings, so it was nice to know that the assurances of complete and total safety were true.

The second time they needed to come up for air, they returned to the sandy shores and the accompanying food and drink.

Eventually, the sun began to set, and they got a notification that dinner would be ready in an hour. A single confirmation was all that was needed for their leftovers to be teleported away, and they gathered up their things to head back inside. After a quick shower, and a mild scolding from Liz when he got distracted partway through, they got ready for dinner and flew to the resort’s primary restaurant. Neither of them cared that much about their appearance at the moment, but Matt still made an effort to ensure the winds they flew in didn’t mess up Liz’s hair too much.

Aster met them there, the pampered little fox looking every inch the part after a full day at the spa. While he knew that part of it was for privacy, he knew it was just as, if not more, motivated by the spa’s ability to accommodate any kind of biology and mana aspect. She would have spent the entire day bathed in ice, winter, and even aurora mana and potions if the brochure was even half true.

Given how fluffy Aster was, and how she somehow smelled of the aurora borealis, he guessed it was accurate. Her eyes were almost glazed over from overt pleasure, and her fur was literally iridescent.

Their simple proximity was making Matt zone out slightly, just from the residual pleasure he felt through their bond.

His attention was recaptured as the first dish of their nine course meal came out of the kitchen. Matt sighed in bliss as cheese melted, then coated the inside of his mouth even as the cracker balanced the hors d'oeuvre out perfectly.

Then came the soups, appetizers, salads, fish, main courses, palate cleansers, desserts, and finally, the mignardise to round things out.

After thanking the waitstaff, the three of them trundled into the common area, where they watched a movie together and enjoyed the last few hours of quiet time they would have.

The next day, the guests would start arriving, and Matt knew that would prove to be hectic no matter how much they planned and prepared.

And oh, was he right.

The moment they finished breakfast, he could hear the screeching of Mara and Leon off in the distance, presumably right as the atmosphere grew dense enough to let the sound carry.

Their sounds of excitement were so loud that most of the planet must have been hearing their yells, prompting Matt to smile while Liz covered her face.

“I can’t believe they won't grow up.”

Matt laughed. “It's fun!”

Mara arrived slightly before Leon, both showing up well before their cheers subsided, and created a pair of clones to sweep each of them into a personal hug simultaneously as she agreed. “It keeps us young, and you three will find what quirks you end up with only when someone else calls you on them. Embrace it. Embrace me! I need hugs.”

Matt obeyed, embracing his soon-to-be mother in law, only to be pulled away by Leon a moment later.

“How are you guys enjoying the island? Everything all ready? The amenities ok? Staff treating you well?”

Matt laughed. “Yes, yes, and yes. Whoever you replaced the normal staff with has been doing an excellent job.”

Leon coughed awkwardly. “Didn’t think you'd catch onto that so soon. How did you like the beach?”

Matt rolled his eyes even as Leon tried to change the topic. He had known from the moment they chose the venue the staff would be replaced with people the royals could trust.

After all, there was no way the planet's normal staff were going to serve the entire upper echelon of the Empire, or even future ascenders. That was just too much of a risk for anyone to take when the solution was as easy as bringing in trusted people. If he couldn’t figure that out on his own, he didn’t deserve to be Luna’s pupil.

He’d also asked, which had confirmed that it was quite normal in events like this. Everyone liked it, from the normal waitstaff who got very well-paying time off, to the temporary staff who got a form of vacation in exotic and luxurious locales once their duties were finished, all while being paid a premium for their troubles.

Before they could settle down too much, the next guests started to arrive. Mostly, it was Liz’s family, with Leah, Erin, and their spouses arriving together at almost the same time, followed by Travis and Keith shortly after.

Then their friends started to arrive, which really started to fill out the villa.

Melinda’s whole team were reunited for the first time since the group that split off successfully exited Minkalla after their own run as Tier 12s.

Matt had heard about the rest of the Unbroken getting carried to Tier 15, but was still surprised when meeting them in person for the first time in almost a decade, and seeing most of them were actually a Tier higher than the three of them.

Melinda was still only Tier 14, as while she would eventually be raised all the way to Tier 25 for some classified military project, her Tier 3 Talent grew with time in addition to Tier, so rushing up the ladder would do more harm than good in the long run.

While it was good to see them, Matt honed in on Melinda and her changes.

She seemed no older or more mature, but different in some way. He had a hard time putting it into words. In the end, the best he could come up with was confidence. She had gained a level of surety that radiated off of her.

He didn’t pry, but concluded that her training over the last decade had been good for her.

Mathew also had his own changes, despite remaining a Tier 15. He had bulked up slightly, which he swore was all natural and not him using his new control over his body, and attributed it to his new job. He and Vinnie had opened up a training school on Lilly, where they taught lower Tier teams tactics on how to fill one's role in a team against various monster types. They also worked with younger children that were still unawakened, teaching them the melee and magical skills they might need if they wanted to pursue a career as a delver.

While they could have opened up or joined with a much more prestigious training school elsewhere in the Empire, thanks to their impressive resume of making it to Tier 12 on the Path, they claimed to enjoy using the skills they’d picked up over the past half-century to give back to their home. They didn’t charge much, even after adjusting for Tier, but they really didn’t need much.

While Tier 15’s weren’t rare, not that large of a percentage of them had the desire, the skills, or the temperaments to properly teach younger children or lower Tiers, and that served to make them one of the most in-demand schools on the planet. Training from immortals was also well out of the price range for normal civilians, as few immortals were willing to spend their time and energy teaching children in exchange for pocket change.

The main focus of their conversation was their first ‘full graduates’ in the form of a brother and sister pair. The twins had started attending their school at five years old, when it first opened, and had Awakened one month before Mathew and Vinnie had left on their annual vacation. In celebration, they’d sponsored the pair to join the Path and were happily following along with the duo’s adventures.

Overall, Matt wasn’t sure he’d enjoy doing something like that long term, but commended the both of them for doing something so noble and selfless.

Samantha, meanwhile, had joined a luxury therapeutics center that focused on low Tier celebrities and other rich people's skin care. Her Talent to control the effect of poisons and venoms was in high demand in that profession, as most of the more invasive treatments used things that were toxic in nature, and therefore were close enough to a poison for her Talent to work on.

It was interesting that all of them kept working. After finding out that the four of them weren’t motivated to keep going on the Path, he half expected to hear that they were taking a few centuries off, like ‘Matt and Liz’ would be doing, but they hadn’t even stopped delving.

It was far, far slower than what any of them were used to, as Mathew and Vinnie’s tie to mortal timescales meant they could only leave their school for one month out of the year, and with travel times being the way they were, that left them just a handful of delves together a year. They took them slow, never risking anything, but it kept the three of them in contact while earning some extra money on the side. Overall, they found it far more enjoyable than delving full-time, and Matt was happy for them, even if he did find their decisions a little odd.

Kyle and Tara, now with the rest of Team Bucket, were Tier 14 as well, having remained on The Path and entered Minkalla. That decision slowed them down a fair bit, since they needed to wait several years for the next cycle to start. Thankfully, the resources they came out of Minkalla with had more than made up for the delay in entry, and they, like Liz and Aster, had been able to use their accumulated essence stones to rapidly advance their cultivation.

Best of all, the five of them had settled into being a well rounded and fairly strong team. They held their own rather well in the light sparring that Matt’s team did with the renamed Team Bucket Reforged.

They barely had time to settle in before the rest of Liz’s immediate family arrived, then some of her extended family. Susanne even came, albeit as Queen, and under the guise of coming to meet Duke Waters and get a bit of mentoring from him. Of course, that didn’t stop them from happily chatting across their AIs and stealing a few quick hugs under one of Mara’s illusions.

Without a need to slow down for the sake of her cover identity, she’d already broken through to Tier 15. Susanne was also taking advantage of essence stones to advance, even when fighting in tournaments or traveling between rifts. Hearing tell of her troubles winning, finding, and trading for rift slots made Matt glad he was often able to skip the hassle, though as they advanced and the paper trails they left became increasingly important, that was growing less common.

Then, a new presence arrived.

Aiden and Madea al’Aegir. Duke Waters and his wife.

While Liz kept trying to reassure him that “Uncle Aiden” was no big deal, the man was beyond a superstar, beyond a living legend, and something more altogether. For all that Matt had somehow managed to grow used to being around the royals and the Emperor himself, meeting the true, active Ascender in the flesh was like nothing else he had experienced.

His skin was a deep olive, and stood as a stark contrast to his medium-length, blue hair that floated around him as if he was underwater. The man simply carried a weight to him that Matt couldn’t describe. Merely being in his presence caused the sounds of the ocean to magnify, and it made Matt acutely aware that the island they were on was just a tiny, tiny piece of dry land, sticking out of an unfathomably large and deep ocean.

Madea wasn’t quite as imposing, despite being a full foot taller than him with dusky gray skin that presumably matched her leviathan body. He didn’t see any tentacles, but that didn’t mean they weren’t present. Just like birds often had feathers entwined with or in place of hair, or foxes kept their ears and tails, many octopodes, krakens, and similar creatures tended to hold onto their additional appendages, and leviathans were no exception. Liz had told him that Madea did have them, but they were usually hidden away in cleverly-designed and spatially-expanded clothing.

As the pair walked into the villa, they beelined for Liz and Matt, with Duke Waters hugging Liz before pushing her to arm's length and saying, “I feel like it was just a few weeks ago when you were going to the PlayPen after being awakened. You have no idea how shocked I was to get your invitation.”

As Madea moved in to replace Aiden, the living legend himself turned to Matt and grinned. “It's okay, you can get it out of the way now. I’m used to it.”

Seeing the man's grin that was bordering on cocky, Matt swallowed his nervousness, raised an eyebrow, and asked, “I’m sorry, what? Liz didn’t manage to do proper introductions. I’m Matthew. Call me Matt, though.”

Seeing Duke Waters freeze for half a second before realizing Matt was messing with him made the joke more than worth it, even as Aiden narrowed his eyes as he fought to hold back a grin.

“Oh, is that how we’re playing this? Okay, okay. I’m Aiden, a perfectly normal guy. Nice to meet you.”

Matt let his grin slip out and put out his hand. “Nice to meet you outside of a recording where you ask us to do you a favor.”

Aiden sighed deeply and nodded. “Cammie. Yeah, I do appreciate you three looking after her.”

A cough from behind him caught both their attention, and Matt spread his spiritual sense and leaned over to see Camilla and her rabbit friend, Hazel, standing right behind the Duke.

After throwing a glare at Aiden, Camilla moved around him to shake both his and Liz’s hand while allowing Hazel to do the same.

As they returned to the villa, Duke Waters said, “So I hear you’re chasing after my shadow?”

“Is that a joke about Light and Shadow?” Matt quipped right back.

Matt was a little worried he may be joking a little too much, as he’d only ever seen movies of the man and heard Liz’s comments about him, but he was doing his best to not trip over his own feet, and the Ascender just laughed. “Ha! No, that’s their own fault for choosing such generic names.” Matt raised an eyebrow, and Aiden waved his hand. “Hey, they chose their names. I didn’t get to choose my title.”

“Sure you didn’t.” Matt checked his AI to ensure that someone- Leon, currently- was disguising their conversation before continuing. “But yes, we are going to complete the Path.”

Liz pulled Madea over by the arm as she joined their conversation. “Is the dick measuring over?” Not waiting for a response, she continued, “Now that everyone coming today is here, we’re moving to the yard.”

Matt nodded and tried to separate himself from Aiden to inform everyone who had moved to their rooms about that, but the older Pather followed him.

He was half expecting a threatening mention about how he better not hurt Liz, but Aiden simply chatted about his own wedding and the jitters he had beforehand, which Matt found relatable.

Analyzing himself, Matt realized he was on edge near the man. It took him a moment to figure it out, but he eventually pinned it on the man's presence.

Duke Waters walked around like the world was made of thin glass, and he was steel. Every gesture, every look, every word, every laugh had a weight to them he hadn’t really felt with anyone else before. He didn’t feel danger, he just felt with absolute certainty that Duke Waters was the highest power, the apex predator present.

He sort of felt it with Emmanuel and the other royals, but that feeling was muffled near them, which he could only attribute to Duke Waters having less practice restraining himself, or having never bothered to learn the trick. Even after noticing what it was, he was still instinctively on edge, a sentiment seemingly mirrored by the others near him.

Of course, they could have just been starstruck.

It faded in time, as Aiden chatted with him and everyone else as they picked those who were still settling in up. Matt also noticed that he happily answered the normal starstruck questions he must get any time he met new people, and handled it with aplomb. At least his friends were good about it, and after asking a question or two about some event that made it into a movie or the like, they treated Aiden like anyone else, which seemed to please the man.

Once they exited the villa, they found that most everyone else had already taken their places on the lawn, and they joined the various groups that formed as people chatted and mingled.

As Aiden arrived, the largest crowd formed around him as people inquired about what he had been up to in the recent years.

Matt took the opportunity to slip away and grab a drink, where Madea silently joined him and watched until he finished gathering a plate of finger food.

“Good first impression. Most everyone acts starstruck, and while Aiden doesn’t mind and has gotten used to it, he prefers to be treated like anyone else.”

As he turned to her, she stuck out a hand and reached out to shake his once more. “Our earlier introduction was brief, but I’ve heard a lot of good things about you from Liz and her parents.”

Tapping the plate twice to make it hover in the air, Matt returned the gesture and thanked her. “Kind of you to say, but I’m just me and doing my best. I wouldn't be here if I didn’t love Liz after all.”

Madea laughed heartily at hearing that. “Oh, how right you are. For all of their silliness, Mara and Leon are protective. If they thought you were a coat rider, they would have pushed you away even if Liz didn’t see it.”

Matt was about to say something when the leviathan shook her head. “I’m not saying that as a threat. It’s a warning for if, or rather when, you and Liz have kids. There will be a number of people who decide marrying someone important or their kid will net them an easy life. I’m the daughter of a Marquess, so I’ve seen it a lot. People who marry into power or grow into it rapidly, like yourself and Aiden, can sometimes miss stuff like that.”

Hearing what sounded like an earnest and honest warning, Matt nodded and thanked her. “I do appreciate it. While we don't intend to have kids anytime soon, it's good to keep in mind.”

Grinning as she finished her drink and handed it to a staff member who arrived just in time, she asked, “Want to see something fun?”

When Matt raised an eyebrow, she sauntered over to where Aiden was and punched her husband, sending him flying through the air and into the nearby ocean. She followed his arc through the air, unfolding into a seven hundred foot leviathan halfway along. The skies darkened from the tentacles stretching off of her body where a dragon's wings might have been. The species was somewhere between a whale, snake, and dragon, and had a mix of the characteristics.

She was far too big to do anything graceful, but nonetheless managed to dive into the exact spot Aiden had splashed into the ocean, vanishing beneath the waves with only a small tidal wave that quickly vanished before it reached the shore.

Everyone else seemed to take that as the cue to enter the water, where they started to play.

Matt quickly learned that playing, when it involved higher Tiers, was not anything like what he did growing up, and more resembled training with Luna.

Duke Waters proved why he earned that title, as he played catch with people inside a bubble of water with his wife, still in her leviathan form. They easily tossed people a dozen miles back and forth like they were juggling, while not even jostling those inside, which made for an amazing trip.

Madea even encouraged them to use her long tail like a slide, and would fling them into the clouds with small flicks right as they reached the bottom, before letting them crash into the water.

Between their Tier and the protection of the higher Tiers present, what would have easily been lethal turned into pure glee.

After they got tired of that, Duke Waters even took them deep into the ocean, past the continental shelf the island was on and down where the light didn’t shine, to show them some of the things humans rarely bothered to look at.

It was there where he understood why there were horror stories of leviathans and their ilk, as seeing Madea approach them out of the inky black water where his vision couldn't penetrate gave Matt the shivers.

She wasn’t an actual monster, but most of the things he’d fought inside rifts were far less scary than her. She was pure nightmare fuel on an instinctive level he couldn't easily shake.

Once they finished playing, they dried off before heading in for the evening to enjoy another incredibly lavish and sumptuous meal made by the island's staff.

The next day, things were relaxed with everyone enjoying some time off in the beautiful location, and they all took the opportunities to do what interested them. Some of them sat around and watched movies or played games, while others went for hikes and excursions into the forests.

Matt joined a fairly large group on an excursion into some caves on the far side of the island, while Liz took her own spa day with a number of the others.

On the third day, their final guests arrived, namely the rest of the royals and Aunt Helen.

Seeing them once more, Matt was surprised at how much he enjoyed spending time with them. When they weren’t in business mode, they were fun to be around and livened up the place.

Seeing everyone interacting was a ton of fun, but what caught his eye was those who had bloodlines.

Luna taking a nap in cat form, lounging on a beach chair even as she kept a head-sized Mara tethered nearby as a heat lamp. Madea slithering around like a snake, chomping away at Aster and Hazel, who had taken to the older woman like old friends. All of Liz’s siblings were in their bird forms, dive-bombing Liz and teasing her about not being Tier 15 yet.

Matt wasn’t jealous, and just thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle they put on, but like most things, it came to an end as the sun started to set.

That was when Matt and Liz had their bachelor and bachelorette parties.

They had considered doing separate parties, but they didn’t exactly have separate friend groups, so they decided to just make a larger, joint party and keep everyone involved.

If they were mortals, that might have meant a small party, but with their guests, it was anything but.

Everyone drew lots to pick a side and then separated to one side or the other as directed by Aster, who had planned the event. With a burst of ice, she carved a line in the sand and announced, “The first game is to get the other side’s espoused to cross the line, and whoever is the first to do so is the winner! The winners get cool flower hats, and the losers have to take a drink out of the Cauldron of Doom!”

With a loud slam, a massive wrought iron cauldron slammed into the beach, to Aster’s delight.

“I had the kitchen staff make this by mixing the grossest alcohols they could get their hands on. And don’t worry!” Three other cauldrons slammed down nearby, “There’s one for every Tier group!”

Jumping down from her spot in the air, Aster had everyone draw lots, which was a game of its own, with Emmanuel being repeatedly skipped as his eyes glowed golden for a moment, peering into the future before being ‘disappointed’ as Aster turned her tail up at his attempts at sneaking a grab.

Once their sides were set, the games began.

Matt felt like he had a stacked deck, not because he had most of the royals, but because he had Vinnie, who simply dove into the sandy soil and grabbed Liz by the ankle before dragging her across the lines, even as their side was trying to make plans.

As Liz spat out some sand and shook her head, she glared at her team as she pointed at the Cauldron of Doom. “You guys deserve two drinks for that debacle. How embarrassing of a way to fail.”

Tisking at them, she watched as her side gagged down a cup of the alcohol. Matt was glad he was exempt upon smelling it, as Aster hadn’t lied. It smelled awful, and he could imagine how badly it tasted just from that alone. He wanted absolutely nothing to do with it.

As the games changed and teams started to break down to alcohol based shenanigans, exactly what Matt feared would happen, happened.

Rusty stood out and called out for any challengers.

Matt looked to Liz, who was sitting next to him, and immediately said, “Bet Su-Queen agrees first.”

Liz looked at the drunk crowd and nodded. “Deal.”

Just as she said that, the woman in question had stood up and was about to accept, when Kyle stumbled out first.

As Susanne slumped down to the ground, Matt cursed her alcohol slowed reactions, even as Kyle was thoroughly beaten up by the older royal.

When that proved not interesting enough for him, he invited Susanne to join the fun, and then everyone else who wanted in to join, which turned it into a free for all, as no one was sober enough to really respect the rules.

As Susanne had her greatsword caught mid swing and then used it like a pendulum to throw her into the ocean, Matt laughed and said, “I sure hope he's forgotten about me agreeing to spar with him.”

Aiden, who dropped next to them, shook his head as he looked up to the sky. “Not a chance. That man lives for the fight. I made the mistake of agreeing to fight him at my Tier 10 tournament and thoroughly got my ass kicked. That was not fun.”

Matt was about to agree on the soundness of that idea when Aiden raised his fist and said, “One day, I will be able to bully him!”

He then burped and started snoring.

Liz immediately took the opportunity to start kicking sand all over him, which got both Hazel and Aster interested, who helped bury the legend.

When the sun started to rise, everyone cleaned themselves off, ate the breakfast that was prepared for them, and then proceeded to take a nap.

Matt and Liz were no exception, as they had a big day in front of them.

At noon, they were getting married.