Chapter 110 (Patreon)

Chapter 110

The first thing Erwin did was have Matt make a series of rifts, starting from Tier 1 to Tier 6. The first set he wanted were just random rifts using only Matt's mana. The second set he wanted to create were all made with a singular elemental mana type. In this case, he was using earth mana.

Erwin had his own set of formation plates ready, which kept the ambient mana out of the rift, preventing them from Tiering up. The idea wasn't unknown to Matt, but the way the formation plates did that intrigued him. They didn't just keep the mana out, but they used the incoming mana to power themselves, which was an interesting application of the rift’s suction ability.

After that, Matt was pulled off by Luna, much to Erwin's irritation. But he didn't press after having a few rifts to experiment on.

Luna pointed to a section of land around the house that they stayed in previously.

“I want you to make a few random Tier 1 rifts.”

She tossed him a few bags. “Use what you find in there to make the rifts, and use the mana types you think would be best. Use the second bag for Tier 2 rifts.”

Untying the first bag, Matt found a variety of weapons and other odds and ends. He had no idea what a rift built around a spinning top would be, but it was an easy enough order.

After setting the rifts up, Luna called everyone and tossed the dreaded cultivation restriction bands at them.

“Wear these.”

She gestured to the side, and Kurt appeared with a wave and a signboard that said, “Hi!”

Luna continued, “Kurt will be your trainer for the next year or so. He’s a blade mage himself, so don't doubt that you can learn a thing or two from him.”

With that, Luna was gone, and Kurt pointed at each of the rifts before a pen floated and wrote on his board, “We will be going through the first rift together. Please watch out for your surroundings.”

He stepped forward, then stopped, and his pen moved again. “Also, please shunt the essence you receive. It's less than ideal for lower Tier essence to be added to your cores.”

Everyone nodded, and with the bands affixed to their wrists, entered the rift. Matt found himself on a forest path. Immediately, he noticed that two or three feet past the edge of the trail, the forest turned blurry and indistinct. It was clearly the edge of the rift, which was normally more hidden.

This rift didn't have goblins or kobolds like Matt expected, but instead shadow monsters that looked like someone draped a sheet over a void.

He moved forward when Kurt gestured for him to advance, and the monster extended a finger towards him as soon as he took the first step. It shot out a [Fireball] at him once he closed the range. Matt had used a wand and neutral mana to create this rift, and he didn't expect the normal monster to be able to use a spell.

That was not normal.

Still, this wasn't Matt's first time fighting a mage, and he rolled out of the way, coming out of his lunge in a slash with his Tier 2 training sword. The blow rent the monster in two at the shoulder, and the fabric fluttered to the ground. Matt eyed the shady remains carefully, but the monster stood down.

Kurt clapped twice to gather everyone's attention, and with his board, asked, “What did you all notice?”

Vinnie gestured at the cloth on the floor. “A Tier 1 monster had a spell. What the fuck?”

Kurt wrote ‘spell’ then looked around with a raised eyebrow.

Aster yipped out, “No smell and no heart.”

Kurt added those two additions, then kept glancing around.

Tara said, “It can either only cast one spell, or its recharge time is a long time.”

Kurt gestured for her to continue with his hand, so she added, “That means it's either limited in mana, or the spell structure is kinda shit inside of it.”

Their silent instructor nodded and wrote, “It's rare, but Tier 1 rifts with pure mage monsters aren't unheard of. It's a fun discovery, but not quite what I wanted. We will come back and get everyone used to this, but I want to start with melee combat.”

The page flipped, and he wrote, “Let's leave, and when I restore your mana cultivation to a tier 1 level, we will come back. ”

The next rift was a metal rift with a dagger used as the base, and inside they found a mountain pass. It was heavily populated with goblins wielding daggers made of what looked like bronze.

Kurt raised a hand, and even while he kept his gaze forward, his board showed, “Ok, perfect. Liz, you first, please.”

As a group, they made their way up the mountain pass and fought the ever-increasing groups of goblins until they reached the boss. They came to a goblin riding a large boar, guarding the exit and reward distortion.

After Luna's training, none of them had any issues killing their way through the goblins. Even Aster was able to brutalize the poor creature, and cracked open its chest to eat its heart. She pranced around the rest of the rift with her prize. It was only then that Matt realized his bond hadn’t been able to eat monster meat in almost two years.

While she wasn't a kit anymore, and her dietary restrictions were far less stringent than they were years ago, she still wasn’t a human. Matt resolved to make sure that she got some actual monster meat in her diet from now on.

Tara used a short sword to quickly dispatch the goblin leader, and Kurt pulled them out of the rift after dispersing the reward distortion. It was a single bent dagger that Matt expected to be tossed away, but Kurt kept it in a box in front of the rift.

They moved through all the rifts for the next seven hours with their cultivation restricted. The Tier 2 rifts were far more difficult, with the monsters being more normal than the Tier 1 monsters.

Matt expected Kurt to have them work them out, but when the sun started to set, he waved them off to do as they wished, as long as they practiced some skill or hobby. He even removed the restrictions on the bands to return their cultivation.

Sam and Liz came right up to Matt and asked for a rift so they could concoct herbs.

He was about to do that when Aster came up and gave him her best puppy eyes. She quietly asked for a snow rift to play in.

As if he heard the questions, Erwin appeared out of nowhere and waited for Matt to create the herb rifts.

Matt talked through his creation as Erwin took notes. “So with our last herb rift, we found that wood and earth mana worked well for ensuring that the rift actually produced useful plants. But this time, I have wood aspected mana with a sub-aspect of plant that I want to try.”

Erwin learned in, examined the mana flowing from his ring, and asked, “How do you know its sub-aspect?”

That caused Matt to pause and consider. “I just get that feeling. Is there an actual way to tell?”

Erwin waggled his pencil. “Not… rigorously. You can get an approximation with the right enchantment of course, but usually it’s just intuition. I was actually working on… not important. ”

Matt paused at that. He hadn’t thought to use runes as a way to check a mana type and sub-aspect.

With everyone watching him, Matt began his first attempt at a Tier 1 herb rift. While the resulting rift had copious plant life, the herbs produced were all mundane varieties. Four rifts later, he got a wide array of herbs to appear by adding a touch of wind and water mana to the mix, along with a bundle of Tier 6 herbs that they had on hand.

He quickly repeated his experiments to get all the way to a Tier 6 herb rift, and demanded promises that neither Liz nor Sam would enter the rift alone. In total, they lost three bundles of herbs throughout his two dozen attempts to create a satisfactory herb rift. But it was a small price to pay when they held a near unlimited number of Tier 6 herbs, acquired during their travels.

Aster's rift was more straightforward, and it only took half a dozen attempts to make a snow rift filled with rabbits burrowed in the snow for her to chase.

He got her to reluctantly agree to the same conditions that she operated under when they were making rifts on the island together, with a few additions. Aster would have to exit the rift every hour to check in, and sleep outside while not skipping out on any of the training.

As soon as she got all the all-clear, Aster shot off into the rift like an arrow.

Everyone else decided to help Liz and Sam harvest the herb rift while Matt worked with Erwin on the finer points of his rift creation process.

Matt liked to think that he had an instinctive grasp on the process, but his understanding was nothing when compared to Erwin's testing.

Once they were off in their own area, Erwin clapped his hands and said, “Alright! Where do we start?”

The man looked like an eager kid with presents at a New Years' celebration.

Matt's following words didn't dampen that at all. “I want to redesign my formation plates from the ground up. I've learned a lot from when I was only Tier 5. Besides the rune repository I have access to, I learned a lot about mana types and their sub-aspects.”

Erwin nodded. “Yes, yes. Excellent idea, I was actually thinking pretty much the same thing. Your stuff is good.”

Seeing Matt's look of doubt, Erwin hurriedly added, “No, really! For someone of your Tier and experience? Quite ingenious.” The man rubbed his hands together and asked, “What are you thinking? I have… a few ideas of my own, but I want to see where your mind is at before I explain.”

Matt toed the concrete slabs and said, “I want to change the material that the formations are made out of. If I use a higher Tier metal with an inlay of precious metals, I think I can increase the efficiency.”

Erwin raised a finger like he was the student and asked, “Why not wood or monster remains? They have significantly higher rune capacitance, after all.”

Matt didn't have an answer for that, and opened his mouth twice before he said, “I didn't even think of them. I've only enchanted metals.”

Erwin shrugged. “Fair, fair. I’m sure you’ll get used to them quickly enough, though. They’re not that different, but they have their own quirks. With metals, you see…” He glanced at something off to the side before saying, “How does that woman always… I’m getting distracted. Perhaps a hybrid setup? We do really need to focus on controlling the mana flows, and keep a close eye on everything. Even the smallest change might hide something important.”

“Can’t a lot of that be done with secondary equipment? It will just make it harder to make the plates with this. Seems easier to use an outside formation.”

Erwin vehemently shook his head. “No, no, no! Well… okay, it will make it harder, and we could use other stuff, but that will create far more variables to account for. Maybe we introduce a mana spectrometer, and that changes its interaction with the mana flow slightly. Or perhaps we can set an essence recorder interface during formation of the rift somehow. There will be time to use multiple devices of that ilk, but this is clearly a delicate process. I want to make sure that as many of our methods and variables as possible are absolutely identical between each test. Hard-carving all of our analysis equipment into the formation plates will make it harder, and will limit us in other ways, but what matters now is getting a control rift.”

Matt couldn't really argue with that logic, and agreed to make a secondary formation set with more specialized materials, once he was able to gather some from his rift experiments.

“Why wait?” Erwin said, while looking at Matt as if he was the one saying something absurd.

Matt explained, “I have Tier 6 metals on hand, but I don't have any monster parts or woods, and I'd rather get this next set made sooner rather than later.”

Erwin laughed. “Oh, don’t worry about that. I keep tons of materials in storage, and have to restock at least once a decade. A few dozen formation plates will barely even scratch my reserves.”

With that solved, they moved on to designing the plates.

This set was far more robust than Matt’s current plates. The base was made out of Tier 7 ironwood inlay, with Tier 7 gold for the actual runes. Matt ruined two sections of the set with his initial creations, but they had a working group of plates by the time the sun rose above the horizon.

Unlike his last set, which only had the basic functions for adding mana, depleting a rift, and defensive formations, this was anything but a simple setup. This generation of formation plates had several new features, and could do everything the last one did.

The difference between enchanting with metal and wood was night and day. With metal, it felt like chipping away at the dense material, even when the runes were carved directly into the item’s spirit. The wood took on the runes like a fish into water.

With their added capacity to hold runes, they also added a barrier formation to the plates. It helped to keep out ambient mana and maintain a near mana vacuum. Erwin insisted on that, and Matt agreed without further prodding from the older man. He was sure that ambient mana could change the results, which meant that they needed to account for the variable.

The formation plates could also monitor every change in mana density and concentration, while sending that information to their AIs. That was the only rune that Erwin personally carved. Matt actually had the rune in his repository of knowledge, but it was far outside of his ability to carve a Tier 22 rune. And that was the most stripped-down version. The one Erwin used was leagues above the simpler runes that Matt had copies of.

Kurt served them all breakfast, and Matt dug in while he watched the sunrise. He was tired, but elated at their success through the night. Burning [Endurance] perked him up enough not to be sleepy when Kurt started their lessons.

The first thing he did was line them up, and nine versions of himself walked out of his body. Each had their own boards to write on, but Matt could clearly see the difference in the clones.

He could tell that they were replicas, clearly made out of mana as they were hazy and slightly see-through.

A quick search in the Tier 8 skill repository showed nothing, and Matt was pretty sure that it wasn't the publicly listed Tier 44 skill, [Clone]. That skill created perfect copies.

Kurt answered the unspoken question with his main body. “I am using [Mana Clone]. A Tier 32 skill that will let me speed up your training. They aren’t that useful in direct combat, as they don't have a copy of my skills, but they are useful in other ways. We will be dueling for an hour. Then, we will be working on combat skills. For those without combat skills, we will be working on the skills you do have. Does anyone have any questions?”

Kyle raised a hand and, when he was nodded at, asked, “Can you explain the difference between a blade mage and a normal melee fighter? They both use skills, so the difference seems to be more one of naming than anything else. Luna said you were a blade mage, and I’ve always been interested in them…”

Kurt nodded and his pen rapidly wrote out, “A true blade mage is more than a melee fighter who uses skills or spells. A blade mage uses a variety of spells that a mage would usually use, while also using normal melee skills. We usually have an equal essence allocation, or a slight preference one way. Anyone see any problems with that?”

Mathew nodded. “Yeah, you’ll be a lesser version of a floater. You can be a front liner, but won't take a hit as well. You can be a mage, but won't have the mana to do it as long or as effectively.” After a second of hesitation, he added, “Without taking Talents into consideration.”

Kurt pointed at Mathew and gave him a thumbs-up. “Correct, and well explained. Now, what are our advantages?”

Liz was the first to answer after a long moment of silence. “You don't have the traditional weaknesses of either group, and can solo a lot easier as well.”

Kurt waved his hand, encouraging her to continue. “You also have a lot of versatility. I think I've heard blade mages called mage killers as well.”

When it was clear that no one else would speak, Kurt wrote, “That's all correct, but you are forgetting one thing. Blade mages are very hard to kill for more specialized roles. We also are able to use our mana control and practice to get more out of our more melee-oriented skills. Kyle wasn't wrong when he said that a lot of melee fighters look like blade mages at the higher Tiers. Skills become more and more useful as you advance, so the difference between mage, melee, and blade mage becomes less noticeable, except in our essence allocation. We are also the best for solo missions, when the parameters are unknown. If you have a Talent that lets you cover one of our weaknesses, then a blade mage is a dozen times scarier than a normal team of melee fighters and mages.”

He nodded to Matt and Kyle. “The two of you are good candidates. Especially you Matt. Kyle, it's not too late for you to consider it either. Your strength stacking means you won’t suffer from a lack of physical essence allocation either. But let us get to training.”

The mana copies raised their weapons, which were a match of each of their own. With their cultivation, Matt didn't expect to get abused in the fight.

He expected to lose. That was never in doubt. Kurt was at least Tier 35, and was chosen as a trainer for The Path.

Kurt's clone was slower and weaker than him, but he was unable to even so much as touch the man. He was repeatedly smacked around, despite the openings Kurt left open. He was never cut deeply, but Kurt sliced through [Cracked Phantom Armor] as if it wasn't there. If he wasn't so controlled with his blows, Matt was sure that he would need Melinda to heal severed limbs.

What was more humiliating was that Kurt was also fighting everyone else at the same time. The man’s attention was split nine ways, and he was able to batter Matt around while being in a weaker and slower state.

Even Aster wasn't left alone. She too was forced to fight Kurt, who used a variety of weapons that monsters and humans might use. She mostly dodged, but it was still good for her, with her limited arsenal. She did keep a small blizzard around her, and shot out blades of ice every time she had an opening, but it was still futile with the man's skill.

After the melee training, Kurt brought Matt away from the others and told him to only use [Fireball] on him while he fought.

Kurt would then start thirty feet back and rush Matt. He left openings. Matt couldn't argue that he didn't. It was just that even with unlimited mana, Matt was unable to actually hit the man before Kurt was upon him and tapping him with his blade.

Matt started to try and anticipate the attacks, but it left him relying more on luck than any planning or skill. Kurt stopped every five charges to explain what Matt was doing wrong. It helped, but Matt was still struggling to hit his trainer.

What helped him the most was when Kurt told him to change locations, and had Matt charge at him. Then, using only [Mana Bolt], he was able to hit Matt three out of three times in the time it took Matt to cover the distance.

That helped Matt get into the right mindset. First, he needed to predict how Kurt would act as a melee fighter trying to close the distance. Then, he needed to predict how someone with thousands of years of real combat experience would react.

All without his AI.

In the two hours of training and lessons, Matt managed three hits on the man when he forced him into hard to escape positions, using a few carefully placed [Fireball]s. When Matt managed to hit the clone, the difficulty ramped up until he was once again struggling.

That early morning training was only a highlight as to why the training with Kurt and fighting in the Tier 2 and 3 rifts with their cultivation restrictions was so practical.

Fighting against monsters that were faster and stronger than them was a valuable lesson to learn. The Tier 3 rifts were where they started taking wounds. Or at least, their mages did.

When they stalled out, Kurt gave the mages Tier 1 levels of mana so they could cast a few spells, which let everyone complete the rifts.

The next training he had them do was delving at full strength with random teams of three. They were only Tier 7 rifts, so they had fewer issues. But the team combinations could lead to them having an easy time, or to them being punished against the random rifts that Matt was directed to make.

Any team consisting of Matt and any of the mages meant an easy clear. Even easier if he was lucky enough to get Melinda on his team, as they could crush any same Tier monster with no risk. When it was him, Kyle, and Mathew, they struggled to deal with ranged opponents, whom they only could strike with Matt's [Mana Slash], [Fireball], and crossbows. That was not enough to kill the birds that were attacking them with wind magic.

They got put together once again, in a rift based with massive wind type bees. They were nearly invisible, and had an armor piercing effect on their stingers. They flatly refused to enter the rift after talking it over.

Contrary to their expectations, Kurt just patted their shoulders and wrote, “Good. Knowing when you can't win a fight is a good lesson. Wait for the others to finish their rifts.”

With the new formation plates he and Erwin made, Matt and the older man made a lot of progress in their understanding of how rift creation actually worked. Through their experimentation, they found that complementary mana types increased the chance of a rift successfully keeping its aspect.

The examples they were currently testing during their rest were the most normal elemental types of wind, water, fire, and earth. Those rifts didn't seem to have any problems in reaching Tier 4 or 5 without losing their aspects.

They also learned that by completely draining the mana from the spot where they were forming the rift, they had increased the chances of the rift keeping the mana type they wanted. Their largest problem was that they didn’t always know if the rift truly lost the elemental aspect it had.

It was only after Erwin insisted on a more thorough examination of their latest rift that they discovered something to the contrary. The rift seemingly had no relation to the element they were using to form it. In that instance, it was a water mana charged rift that had a typical forest setup. But when they Tiered it up, the rift transitioned into a water beach.

That wasn't the only oddity. Afterwards, they discovered that when a rift absorbed an item, it was almost always going to have a theme based around the item. But that wasn't always true if the area where the rift had formed contained ambient mana. It only held true if they had cleared the location of ambient mana, and used the exact same mana types to Tier the rift up every time.

Together, they created hundreds of Tier 1 through 6 rifts. They attacked their experimentation on the rifts and the effects of the mana used to create them from every angle.

Some things seemed to remain consistent.

If a weapon was used to make the rift, the monsters inside would usually use that weapon, or it would be dropped from the reward distortion. If the items were a higher Tier than the rifts, the rewards were always bent or broken in some way, but it led them to their next series of tests.

Rift-made weapons were perfectly identical. Or, the closest anyone could get to identical without atomic levels of precision.

If the item used to seed a rift was absorbed by Tiering up the rift, they had another chance at seeding the rift with an exact copy of the same item. That chance was low, at only one in fifteen, but it meant that rift rewards were better to seed rifts with. The problem was that rifts seemed to absorb items if their Tier was higher than the item's Tier. Items of the same Tier were fine, but if the rift was a higher Tier, it was guaranteed to absorb the item, and could still potentially unaspect.

Their measuring equipment picked up minute fluctuations in the rifts. They theorized that the fluctuations might indicate that the rift was unstable, or would unaspect. But after combing through the data, their findings were wide ranging and inconsistent from element to element. The data was largely useless if they wanted to draw any concrete conclusions.

After over a month of testing single elemental rifts, they started testing combination rifts with even splits of two of the elements.

Some combinations worked well, and others… not so much. Fire and wind nearly always worked well, when constructed with a fifty-fifty split in mana types.

The rifts it created were usually hot and dry climates with either wind or fire monsters, but in a few rifts, they discovered that dual-element monsters were possible. The most normal were lava or mud creatures. The more esoteric ones, like steam, were practically harmless if they stayed away from them, as the monsters didn't really move.

They also found out that a rift with two monster types nearly always had both elements present. But at Tier 6, rifts with two monster types were rarer than singular elements, and Erwin refused to rush them past the rifts that were easy for Matt to create.

Fire and air. Earth and fire. Earth and water. Water and wind. They all created simple combinations that were easy to make and Tier up.

They learned that opposing elemental mana rifts like fire and water were possible, if highly finicky. They were only able to get two out of hundreds of attempts to stabilize and actually form the rift. Only one of the two reached Tier 2 before deaspecting.

The rift was incredibly hard to stabilize, and the resulting aspect could only be described as… odd. It was a jagged landscape with no shrubbery that they could see. At random intervals, exploding jets of superheated water blasted out of the ground. Erwin and Matt spent hours afterwards clearing the grotesque salamanders out of the rift so they could examine the mineral content and temperature of the water.

It was also filled with bacteria that prompted Erwin to disappear for two days. Matt didn't understand half of what the man said about them, but he used the time to test his own theories.

Despite Erwin's insistence that they were rushing, Matt hypothesized and tested that if they used unequal amounts of opposing mana types, they would be able to create more stable rifts.

He was right, or mostly so. With a seventy-five to twenty-five percent ratio, the rifts were stable, even with the opposing mana types. The issue was that they almost always presented only the majority mana type.

After Erwin’s return from his bacteria study, they found that if they used a forty-five, forty-five split of opposing mana types, with a neutral mana type as the remaining ten percent, they could get the opposing mana-type rifts that were far more stable.

During that same time, Kurt had them delving Tier 7 and Tier 8 rifts with their original teams. They were taking the rifts exceptionally slowly, as it was dangerous to delve without knowing the ins and outs of the rift. That was a larger issue for Melinda’s team than Matt's team, who were more used to the unknown. However, they didn't have Melinda’s Overhealth to fall back on. At least, not during the delve itself.

As they got used to Tier 7 rifts and got comfortable, Kurt pushed them to begin delving Tier 8 rifts. The difference was only one Tier, but it was a massive spike in difficulty.

Tier 8 rifts were larger, and every monster had their own Concepts and skills. The terrains were also more varied, with a minimum of two monster types for them to deal with.

Matt, at Kurt's request, created a new basic Tier 8 rift every day for them to delve blind. The skills they got were mostly common ones, but they started to pile in. Being under the Tier of the rift, and having the rifts bursting at the seams with mana, helped with their drops as well.

It took a lot of convincing to get Melinda’s team to accept the skill shard drops, but they eventually did when they saw the pure amount of wealth Matt was able to generate with a single rift.

Matt, Liz, and Aster didn't struggle with the Tier 8 rifts all that much, and used the higher Tier essence to push to the peak of Tier 6 in a short time. The extra cultivation only helped them clear the rifts even easier. They had to be safe, but after Luna's brutal training and Kurt's careful tutelage, they had little issue fighting monsters two Tiers higher than them.

The only rifts they truly struggled in were rifts that had incredibly defensive monsters. Even then, it was mostly only Matt who struggled without his spells. He had been banned from using [Flamethrower] for more than ten seconds during a delve, after he used the singular skill to clear an entire rock turtle rift.

He agreed with the reasoning, but his sword lacked the piercing power he needed to fight monsters with hard armor.

When they asked for Tier 9 rifts for the third time, Kurt had them start solo delving Tier 8 rifts, in combination with more restricted cultivation Tier 3 rifts. That was enough to keep them busy for a while, but it didn't last. When Melinda’s team got comfortable with the Tier 8 rifts, they went back to random three-man teams to delve in.

That element of uncertainty combined with the random rifts caused them to struggle once again, and quelled their desires for a greater challenge.

***

Luna stood in front of the tribunal and scowled internally. She could tell from their postures that they weren’t going to agree with her.

Finally, Silver sat forward and they said, “We have considered your proposal of loosening the restrictions on one Pather, Matthew Alexander, on the grounds that he needs greater access to restricted items, such as Mana Concentration potions, resources to create rifts, and better training aids. We have unanimously denied said petition.”

She had expected that, but Silver's next words caused her hackles to rise.

“As for your second petition, to force one Matthew Alexander off The Path for his own good, we have unanimously denied this as well.”

Luna interrupted Silver with a growl. “That's bullshit. The Path is already a complete charade for him. He feels none of the normal pressure applied by the Curve. He has no speed that he needs to be restricted to. With his Talent, he could complete The Path in his sleep, and with rifts below his Tier. The only thing The Path does is harm him. If he's off The Path, and given everything we have, we can create a much stronger fighter. This is actively hurting his progression.”

Silver’s will clashed against her own, and Luna was about to smash their Aspect when a greater power than both of theirs ripped into the room, and the Emperor now stood with them.

Everyone stood and bowed. Luna included.

She respected Emmanuel more than his father. His father had been a fine Emperor, but his son was willing to shoulder every burden himself in defense of the Empire. He never asked others to do what they weren't willing, and instead completed the task himself. He was what his Concept made him. Self sacrifice for the betterment of the Empire.

That, if nothing else, earned her respect.

Still, it didn’t mean that she wouldn't argue her case. “Matt needs greater resources than I am allowed to provide with the current restrictions. He, Liz, and Aster are strong and driven. They are Tier 6, and are already clearing Tier 8 rifts solo. They don’t need the stupid tournament coming up. They’ll get nothing out of it. They definitely don't need the fame, fortune, or rewards that come with it. A couple hours of Matt’s time will have every guild and noble family emptying out their vaults to get their higher Tier rifts supercharged, or create custom ones for them. They need nothing The Path can offer them. What they actually need is training, resources, and time. I can—”

She was cut off by the Emperor's raised hand. “I've reviewed the information. Matt and Liz had a good chance to complete The Path before any interference, and they meet the criteria of allowing them to complete The Path. We are not asking them to step off. The rules are set up so that we don't ruin them by helping too much.”

That infuriated Luna, because she knew all too well what he was doing with Melinda. While he hadn't gone overboard or broken any rules, he had bent them like they were wet spaghetti.

“And your interference with Melinda? Sending Harvest Moon to train her? Looking for the best healing spells for her? Are you intending to allow her to finish The Path with all that help? I can get around these restrictions, but that will mean wasting time and exposing his Talent to more people. With his Talent, he will fundamentally change the Empire, leading it into a new era of growth. Are you willing to risk making him weaker?”

She could see all the colors cringing back behind their council table at her slap to the Emperor's authority.

Emmanuel didn't get angry, and instead just nodded. “You are correct. Melinda and her team were noted early on to be unlikely to complete The Path, and with my interference, they will be asked to step off before Tier 22. As is tradition. Even with our intervention, it’s not certain that they would be able to complete The Path. They just don't have the mentality for it.”

The Emperor gestured with his other hand, “Matt, on the other hand, was noted at his PlayPen with high potential, and that rating only increased on the training world he attended. Liz, in turn, had the same rating noted under a false identity, which means I won't interfere. They are top candidates to complete The Path, even without Mr. Alexander's Talent. The Path of Ascension is sacrosanct and I will not let the rules be broken. I am willing to allow some measure of inefficiency with Matt’s training, if it is in line with his wishes. I will not be a tyrant who sacrifices personal wants on the altar of ‘for the betterment of The Empire’.”

Luna opened her mouth, but the Emperor raised a hand. “I do agree that Matt would objectively be better off if he left The Path of Ascension. That is true. But I will not interfere with the rules. If he is willing to leave The Path, I am more than willing to throw every resource we have to him. But I will not interfere with his desires or wants for what is best for the Empire. If he and Liz want to remain on The Path and don't fall off, I will not allow you to interfere. Make your case to him. But if he declines? You will stick to your role as a trainer on The Path of Ascension and the restrictions and guidelines that entails. Do I make myself clear?”

There was a hint of the Tier 50’s Aspect in the last words that made the world tremble.

Luna repressed a smile and said, “Perfectly clear.”

With that, she tore her way out of real space. Matt would probably be willing to step off The Path if she explained everything to him. He was pragmatic enough for his age. Liz was the problem. He wouldn't leave without Liz, and she was bent on proving to everyone that she earned her power without her parents' connections. The boy was love struck, and would do anything for the girl. Luna didn’t have a way to overcome that.

Not yet at least.

But the Emperor said if they fell off The Path. There were more ways to get booted from The Path than being too slow to advance. Having a higher Tier save you from imminent death while delving a rift was immediate disqualification from The Path. The Emperor wouldn’t even dare complain about it either, judging by the not so secret babysitters constantly guarding Liz, Melinda, and Matt from chaotic space.

She wouldn't force them into an impossible situation or set them up to fail. She’d create a practically impossible situation and let them know that. When they impulsively rushed ahead despite her warning, she’d have her chance to step in and save them, rescuing them from The Path at the same time.

It was as natural as knocking a glass of water off a table. Some things just had to be done.

If they made it, then she would just have to deal with the restrictions. If they proved that competent, she could find another way to get Matt the resources he needed. They would probably come with extra risks that he didn’t need though.

When she returned to the fringes of Empire space, she stood high above the continent where the children trained below. She could feel them, and see every minute mistake they made. It made her tail twitch and lash out. She wasn't mad at them, but at the restrictions she was placed under. She was quite happy with their progress in the months she had been gone. But she was quite finished with the restrictions that she labored under. They were preventing the children from being the best they could be.

Once night fell and she had suitably calmed herself, she returned to her office with Kurt, who simply scrawled, “And?”

Bitterly, she growled, “Those fools denied it.”

Kurt looked as if he wanted to speak, but refrained himself. While she was in no danger from him, they both knew that it wouldn’t do for him to grow even the slightest bit lax when around such low-Tier individuals. It wasn't like he was in the army, where he could be more lax behind enemy lines.

Instead he hurriedly wrote out, “The restrictions?”

Luna nodded and he stilled. “I want to get Erwin to help with making an incredibly hard Tier 9 rift. One that is harder than most Tier 10 rifts. We’ll have them run it. I’ll let them know that if they fuck up, we will have to save them, and they’ll be off The Path. I’ve read the reports, they’re chomping at the bit and will jump at the chance.”

Even without her, Luna knew that the boy would be a force to be reckoned with, but she had a responsibility to make him the best. Not only for his sake, but the Empire’s too. There were so many fates tied to his. It was hard for her to not simply force him off The Path herself.

She didn't agree with the Emperor that an individual’s wants outweighed everything else. After a point, the burden was too high, and the betterment of all was worth more than one person’s autonomy or an overzealous desire to prove that The Path worked. She wanted what was best for her charges, but not what they thought was best for themselves.

The Path wasn't optimal for Matt’s future growth so it had to go.

Matt wanted to be the best. She knew that, but what would get him there meant abandoning The Path in favor of his own. The Path excelled at finding and nurturing normal geniuses, but it wasn't a one-size-fits-all solution.

Liz fit the mold fine, and would thrive on The Path, but not Matt.

With Matt’s Talents, she believed that he had the responsibility to help alleviate the mana problem that the Empire suffered under. Trillions of lives would be improved immeasurably. And he needed to be strong, because doing that would cause a war.

Luna would give her charges a chance. But she would make them earn it.

She sent a message to Erwin. She needed a rift designed.