Chapter 6

The next morning Matt got up and reviewed the cultivation guide he read last night. There wasn’t anything complicated at Tier 1, and he just had to relax and focus on his essence.

As excited as Matt was, he couldn’t relax enough to reach the required state to cultivate. He tried sitting legs crossed, tried sitting in a chair, even tried slow movements. None of the top-recommended positions worked for him. Eventually, he flopped on his bed and was slowly able to get a good grip on his essence.

The essence he had accumulated delving was sitting in his spirit, concentrated in the center but also present dispersed through the rest of the sphere.

Once Matt had a good mental grasp on the essence, he could feel two paths. One led to his body, and that path was open and seemingly thirsty for essence. The other led to what he knew was his mana but felt completely sealed off. No matter how he tried, the essence couldn’t go down that side.

Matt hadn’t actually believed it would work, but it had been worth an attempt. Giving up, Matt sent the essence to the physical side.

That was all Matt had to do; there was no real effort to cultivation, just concentration and time. He had to constantly coax the essence along, or it would try and settle stagnant in his spirit.

He found it incredibly boring.

What felt like minutes later, Matt was finished, his spirit empty of essence. He looked at his pad and saw it was almost 3:00 pm. He had started at just after 7:00 am. Where had eight hours gone?

Matt felt robbed. And hungry. Sighing, he got changed into sparring clothes and quickly ate a light lunch.

He went to the training room and did what Melinda’s group suggested last night. For one thousand credits, he could purchase a simulation of the final room of the Tier 1 rift. It even came with the variations.

Matt made the purchase and wandered looking for an open training room but didn’t find one until the fourth floor. Linking his pad and simulation to the room, Matt activated [Cracked Phantom Armor].

Six training aids came out, and Matt began.

After his training, Matt went and had dinner with Melinda and company, but they had a tactics training class after dinner, so they didn’t linger long.

Matt went back to his room and browsed the available classes, everything seemed useful, but he had to prioritize at least a little. It was only recommended to take one or two classes at a time, and with them meeting once every three days, they were built around the three-day delve schedule.

First, Matt looked up the finances class Dena had recommended. Most classes lasted two months, and he was in the middle of a cycle, so he’d be waiting no matter which classes he chose. The other one he decided on was Manners and Etiquette, a recommendation passed on by Melinda’s group’s sponsor.

Then he looked up the personal trainers.

***

Matt stood in front of the rift again. It shimmered with colors he couldn’t put names to. With a bracing breath, he stepped through.

The beginning of the rift was the same as it had been three days ago. The entire rift was a repeat of the last delve. That was until the final room, where he only saw four goblins in the scale armor. To the side, he found the fifth.

It was an archer. Matt didn’t have anything to fear from this goblin, it was only mid-Tier 1 in strength, and its bow wasn’t particularly powerful.

Still, Matt went over the scenarios that had worked for this combination yesterday.

Stepping through, Matt ran at the four charging goblins veering off to the right-most goblin and stabbing his longsword through the small monster while charging at the goblin with the bow.

Using its comrade as a meat shield, Matt closed the distance before the others could rescue the goblin who stood shooting arrows into the corpse on Matt’s blade for a breath too long.

That mistake let Matt add one more to his goblin shish kebab. Turning while using his foot to push the goblins off his blade Matt lashed out at the hobgoblin, who had nearly reached his back as it was closer to the rear when Matt ran past the group of them.

Matt’s attack caused the hobgoblin to step back, aborting its swing. That change in location caused the goblin charging past to catch the axe in the side.

The final two goblins flanked Matt to either side, trying to box him in and restrict his movement. He stepped to the right, blocking the goblin’s swing before stepping on its feet and hip-checking the smaller creature.

The force sent the goblin falling back, but Matt standing on his feet caused his weak ankle bones to snap.

Matt stomped down to finish it off while keeping an eye on the hob and remaining goblin.

The goblin stuck to the left of the hob and refused to move. It was probably the best move the weak creature could make at this point by covering the hobgoblin’s weak side.

Matt tried baiting out the goblin, but it refused to wet his blade-like its brothers did. And with its assistance, Matt was forced to retreat from the heavy blows of the axe.

Biding his time, Matt waited for his opportunity, and when the hobgoblin struck out, Matt didn’t dodge or deflect the strike but blocked the haft of the weapon with the flat of his longsword.

Matt took advantage of the stalled axe and ran his blade down the haft to catch the hobgoblin’s unprotected fingers.

Flesh met steel and lost.

Screeching in pain, the hob retreated, unable to hold his weapon. Matt finished the goblin next to the hob off with a clean cut.

Seeing the hob was just clutching its mangled hand, Matt thrust through the unprotected arm opening in the plate, bisecting the last remaining monster.

Looking around, Matt felt like this could have been done cleaner. He might not have been hit, but that didn’t feel like a particularly high bar to set with opponents this weak.

There is a reason this rift was kept when they made the PlayPen.

Sighing, he collected the bloody armor and weapons before moving to the reward distortion.

Sweeping it with his spiritual sense, he felt this time it was an orange color. But not quite. It had a multicolored thread weaving through the field.

Matt wasn’t sure if it meant anything but waited until the thread was at its most visible pulse before dispelling the field.

There were two bars of metal. He thought they were steel but wasn’t sure. He wasn’t a smith, after all.

Something to look into, a class on blacksmithing would be useful. At least then, he would be able to identify better and worse weapons.

The more Matt thought about it, the more he liked the idea. If he was going to be a mostly melee fighter, it would do him well to understand his weapons of choice better.

Matt exited the rift and sold the steel bars to the receptionist for 500 credits apiece.

Overall he felt it was a successful delve.

***

The next month and a half were some of the best in Matt’s life. He delved, he cultivated and advanced, he learned.

All while becoming closer to Melinda’s group. Most days off were spent with them. After delve days, they all relaxed together, movies, games, drinking, or just exploring the island.

They became true friends, and Matt was grateful. He hadn’t let anyone get close at the orphanage or Benny’s. Matt didn’t think he had kept people away, just that he hadn’t met people he wanted close. Most of the people at Benny’s were older and jaded from life, content to eke out enough to live but little more.

Matt wanted greatness. Melinda’s group wanted the same. They pushed themselves and refused to languish at the lower Tiers.

The classes were interesting. The financing class was an eye-opener. Matt didn’t realize that he had misunderstood Dena’s letter. When she had said 20k, he had assumed she meant credits and based his purchases around that misconception.

He had been given a credit limit of twenty thousand Tier 1 Mana stones, not twenty thousand credits. Matt couldn’t even imagine that amount of money. It was an ungodly number of credits. That extra cash let Matt hire a Tier 7 melee trainer to give him lessons.

It was subsidized by the Empire, but Matt still had to pay fifty thousand credits. Matt had been hesitant to go into that much debt, but after the first lesson, Matt had no regrets.

Dominic was a 6’4” monster who mainly used a sword and shield but was competent in most weapons. After seeing Matt’s skill, Dominic had Matt rotating weapons, with a focus on a shield and one-handed weapons. His reasoning was if Matt ever joined a team, a shield was usually better for the group than a single longsword user.

It was challenging. Matt thought he was good with the longsword, and Dominic even confirmed that he was, but when using a shield and sword, he felt clumsy and had a hard time getting into a groove that felt natural.

After Dominic felt he was ready, he had Matt tackle the Tier 1 rift with the sword and shield. It was a different experience from his runs with a longsword. With a longsword in hand, he barely took half an hour to clear out the rift. With the shield and sword, it took almost two hours. There was an incremental improvement in each run, but not something Matt was satisfied with.

Dominic had even started Matt with spear training, with and without a shield. So Matt was sure that would be his next weapon to take into the rift.

During his delves, Matt hadn’t had exceptional luck, either good or bad, with the prizes. Mostly around the average of seven mana stone value.

Matts cultivation was almost a quarter of the way through Tier 1. It was only that fast because he didn’t have to split the essence but was warned by everyone that the Tier 2 rift was a large step up in difficulty.

Once Matt broke through to Tier 2, he would see a larger improvement. While cultivating and distributing essence, a cultivator only got half the results and got the other half when he broke through the Tier barrier. It was the reason a new Tier 2 was so much stronger than a peak Tier 1.

Even so, Matt was seeing improvements in his strength, speed, and endurance. The changes weren’t massive, but after every delve, Matt could fight a little longer, strike a little harder, and move just a bit faster.

Matt was cultivating after a delve when his pad chirped. He ignored it until the pad vibrated. He had it set to do not disturb, and only an emergency contact would override that setting.

Matt sat up and looked at the message.

Melinda: Have you seen the news? Come to our suite. Quick.

A worried Matt hurried to their collection of rooms and found them in the common area watching the tv.

An official-looking man was speaking to the screen. Behind him was an expensive-looking manor with people crawling over it like ants.

“..rise. The Empire expects its nobility to guide and protect the common people. After a thorough investigation, the Empire has found the Juniper family negligent to the extreme. With this verdict, the Empire will be sending relief efforts to repair all cities that have been affected by rift breaks.”

Matt gasped. That’s what this was about? Negligence from the nobility letting cities get shredded because they hadn’t wanted to take measures to prevent it?

“Holy s...” Matt was hushed by everyone.

He squeezed in between Vinnie and Sam on the couch as the broadcast continued.

“Because of the devastation, there will be compensation to all affected parties. Please be patient. Millions have lost loved ones and family members, the Emperor, can not bring them back. But reparations will be given to those remaining and punishment to those responsible.”

A crowd behind the camera started cheering at that. The official held up and hand, and it was instantly quiet. “By the Emperor’s will, all will be made as whole as possible. Healers, both mundane and magical, will be arriving on Lily in the next few months. This includes psychiatrists. Their services will be on a need basis. All will get their time and help. Please be patient.”

He looked down at his pad for a moment, then back at the crowd and camera. “Standby for a Royal Decree from his Majesty Emperor Emmanuel the Third, hear and obey.”

With a flick of his fingers from his pad to the camera, a new image replaced the official and manor.

The man on the throne was tall and in seemingly simple clothes, but Matt was sure they probably cost more than twenty planets would generate in a decade.

The Emperor was dark-haired with gold eyes that gave off a golden light. The odd part was it didn’t interrupt the view of the man’s eyes. Matt wasn’t sure if it was how the Emperor looked in person or if it was a camera trick.

His voice was deep. Even through the recording, Matt felt the pressure on his chest. “It has come to our attention of the neglect of the Barony of Juniper of planet Lilly. We, after reviewing the events, have decided that an outsider will care for the planet no more than any other noble family raised to the position.”

“Our solution to this predicament is as follows. The Path of Ascension is meant to raise the strong, and from The Path, your next noble will be chosen.”

“The first person or group to reach Tier 15 will be given the opportunity to take the noble title. It is our hope that someone who has experienced the tragedy of rift breaks will not take the lives of their subjects as lightly as the Junipers did. Any who have been affected and are on The Path are eligible. Strength through perseverance.”

With that, the image returned to the official. “The Emperor has spoken. The planet will be placed under an advisory council until one of your own ascends to the position. More information will be passed in the coming days.”

The man stepped away, and a reporter stepped in and started chattering.

Matt and the rest looked at each other in shock.

“Holy shit,” Tara said. That broke the shocked silence, and everyone clamored to talk. Eventually, it settled, but the excitement was still palpable.

Mat, who had a now weeping Melinda in his arms, said, “I saw it myself, but I can’t believe it. I thought it would take an official challenge to the noble family and killing them at Tier 15 to get revenge. Shit, I don...”

Melinda slapped his chest. “It’s a good thing, dummy. Now we don’t have to risk ourselves, and people are getting the support they deserve, not...” she hiccupped, interrupting herself, “not just revenge, but actual help.”

Vinnie voiced Matt’s growing fear. “Is this concern or something else? The Emperor himself heard of this incident on a Tier 4 planet? There are how many thousands of planets below Tier 5 in the Empire. Why does he care? It seems too good to be true. And how did he even hear of this? To ascend, the Emperor must break the Tier 50 barrier. He could break this planet in half. It doesn’t sit right with me.”

Sam chimed in. “I can’t say how or why he stepped in, but he pissed a lot of people off with his decree, that’s for sure. Normally new baronies are given to the second and third children of higher nobles. Only the first child of a noble to hit the Tier for their rank can take the title. Everyone else gets nothing.”

“In my In-depth Nobility class, they talked about it. New lower Tier planets are always being added to the Empire, and doing this sets a precedent that probably pissed a lot of higher nobles off. What plot can there be in that?”

The seven of them talked around the topic until dinner. They couldn’t believe that there was a chance that any one of them could be the next baron of this planet. Even if there were stronger people who had suffered the attacks and were on The Path, it was still The Path of Ascension, and anyone could fall off at any time.

After they finished eating, Melinda dropped even more shocking news. “Are you all ready to go to see our Tier 3 Talents?” Matt was shocked, they had said they were at peak Tier 2, but this was a huge step and the last Talent they would have unless they got to Tier 25 then Tier 50.

“Wait, you guys broke through? What are we waiting for? Let’s go. This is huge.” Matt was excited. This was their first step into the larger Empire. After reaching Tier 3, people could only spend six months at the PlayPen before they had to make their own way on The Path of Ascension.

They all looked at him with expressions he couldn’t place. It wasn’t the happiness he expected. The looks put his hackles up.

“Matt we talked about it over the last few days and well. Here, it’s easier to see. Please don’t share this with anyone, obviously, but we trust you, and this will let you know we are ok when we leave.”

Matt felt his pad ping and pulled it out to see

The party “Unbroken” has sent an alliance offer.

Details: full view of the individual profile.

Matt was stunned. This was massive. It would let him see their skills and Talents. It was more than most friends shared and a tremendous show of trust.

With only a moment’s thought, Matt accepted and gave the same permissions. He could trust them. Even if this bit him in the ass in the future, Matt was willing to risk it. They were friends.

Matt saw the group check their pads with relieved smiles until Mat saw Matt’s Tier 1 Talent and gasped, “What is this bullshit?”

The other had incredulous looks as well as they saw his Talent. Sam was the first to react to his skill. “What is this skill? It’s broken. What are these resistance numbers? This is absurd.”

Matt sheepishly said, “Just two useless things that synergize really well.”

“Really well is an understatement, Matt. I wish our Mat had tank skill that good.” Mat, who was next to Melinda, looked at her as she said that and gave an exaggerated shocked look.

Matt took the time to look at their information.

Mat:

Talent Tier 1: Everyone in the party has lowered threat generation. Threat generation is redirected to an individual of choice.

Talent Tier 3: Unknown. Please go to a Talent scanner.

Skills: None.

Melinda:

Talent Tier 1: All healing skills are 50% more effective and cost 50% less mana to cast.

Talent Tier 3: Unknown. Please go to a Talent scanner.

Skills: [Ranged Heal]

Kyle:

Talent Tier 1: All Strength allocation has double the effect.

Talent Tier 3: Unknown. Please go to a Talent scanner.

Skills: None.

Samantha:

Talent Tier 1: Poisons and Venoms only affect designated targets.

Talent Tier 3: Unknown. Please go to a Talent scanner.

Skills: [Venom Strike]

Vinnie:

Talent Tier 1: Innate [Earth Manipulation]

Talent Tier 3: Unknown. Please go to a Talent scanner.

Skills: [Earth Manipulation]

Tara:

Talent Tier 1: Innate understanding of ranged weapons.

Talent Tier 3: Unknown. Please go to a Talent scanner.

Skills: None.

Matt was shocked. None of their Talents were weak. Melinda had joked about Mat not being a good tank but redirecting threat generation meant enemies wouldn’t prioritize the backline damage dealers and healers. That was a defensive frontline’s entire job, and he could do it without an expensive skill shard.

Kyle could focus on other parts of physical cultivation with his Talent, and that would either let him get a bit more mana cultivation and be a true hybrid or be an even better physical cultivator. He could be twice as strong as anyone on his Tier or even match someone one Tier up.

Sams Talent was what every Poison Mage dreamt of and begged for any skill shard that would be able to help. Most had to become solo delvers because while they would be immune to their own skills, they would kill their allies as quickly as their enemies.

Vinnie had [Earth Manipulation] as an innate skill which meant it was a free core skill. Matt knew of that particular skill. A Tier 15 on The Path had used it not five months ago in a tournament to beat every one of her opponents without moving a muscle.

She had stood there with arms crossed, and as soon as her opponents had touched the ground, it simply swallowed them. She had even faced an opponent that had a flight skill and had simply launched spears of stone at them until she impaled them.

Tara’s innate understanding of ranged weapons was less flashy, but if it worked like other innate understandings Matt had heard of, she would need next to zero training to get decent with a ranged weapon and far less to master the weapon. Matt had only read of single weapon understandings, never such a broad category covered by a Talent.

Then there was Melinda. Matt didn’t know what to think. It was no wonder she had been given a rating of exceptional. Fifty percent was the acknowledged limit of what a Talent could do to a skill or type of skill. And she had TWO in one Talent.

Just having a talent that did two things like hers was already incredibly rare. But having two with the maxed benefits? She might be the only one in the entire Empire.

They were watching Matt as he took in the information. He just glared at them before turning up his nose and saying, “I hate all of you.”

***

Matt paced outside of the row of testing rooms. It had taken half an hour of bickering about how broken the Talents of the others were before the stalling became obvious and the party faced their destiny.

He was more nervous than any of the group had seemed to be. He wasn’t sure if it was just that they were hiding it better or truly not nervous. They may have hesitated in coming, but once they arrived, they didn’t falter.

As he paced, he felt a breeze, then suddenly, there was Griff and a woman next to him.

Matt knew Griff was the second in command of the PlayPen and Tier 15. Judging by the way, he was standing at the woman’s side but slightly behind her told Matt she could only be the person running the PlayPen.

I’m pretty sure I remember reading that it was always a Tier 20 in charge of a PlayPen. Why would a Tier 15 and a Tier 20 both show up?

Matt gulped, had something gone wrong? Why were the two most powerful people on the island here? Then another breeze alerted Matt to another presence.

Matt turned and saw the official from the earlier proclamation. The news reporters after his announcement said he was a Tier 30 and a high-ranking minister of the Empire who had the Emperor’s trust.

WHY WERE ALL THESE PEOPLE HERE?

Matt felt the fear building and looked between the group of three and the doors. He wasn’t dumb and could tell exactly which door they were viewing.

He wished he had brought his sword, it wouldn’t have done any good against the three, but he couldn’t let something happen and just stand by watching. Matt had promised himself long ago that he wouldn’t let the people he cared about to be snatched away from him.

Just as Griff noticed him and opened his mouth, the right-most door opened, the door they had been watching. Melinda came out pale, tired-looking, and covered in sweat.

That grabbed all their attention, and the official spoke up, “Miss...”

Melinda cut him off and said, “I know. Can we wait until my party is done? I don’t want to have to do this twice.”

A Tier 3 had just interrupted a Tier 30. Matt looked at the official, and while he looked like he wanted to argue, he said nothing.

Matt truly felt out of his depths.

Melinda looked to Matt, and that drew the attention of the three powerhouses. Griff spoke up, “Hey Matt, maybe you should clear out. Ok?”

Matt was surprised that the Tier 15 remembered him at all. As he was about to agree and leave, Melinda once again spoke up. “He’s an ally of our party, so I’d like him to remain.”

Once again, the others just agreed.

Matt was really concerned now. He felt jittery. His flight or fight response was going haywire. His body screamed at him to do something, even though his mind knew either would be useless in the face of the powerhouses in front of Melinda.

The only thing letting him keep a hold of himself was they weren’t hostile. Clearly, they were here for Melinda and considering what she had just been doing, there were only a few possibilities of what could have drawn these people of position and power here.

Just what did her Talent reveal?

Matt could check but didn’t feel comfortable reaching for his pad with the stillness in the hall. If he broke it, those three might just decide to act.

It only took another few minutes for the other five to come out, and as soon as Tara walked out of her room, they were ushered into a conference room down the hall.

The official started as they entered the room “Miss Combs, we were all alerted to your Talent. We couldn’t see what it is, but the rating came back as Exceptional: Unique, top priority. We would like to offe...”

A quick two beeps interrupted the man, and his face drained of blood. With shaking hands, he pulled his pad out and flicked a finger at the wall. For the second time that day, Matt saw the Emperor, a Tier 50.

Matt gulped as everyone went to one knee, heads bowed.

“Your Majesty, what can your humble servants do for your excellency?”

Out of the corner of Matt’s lowered head, he saw the official shaking slightly.

“Good, you got to them already. You three get out.” There was a power in those words. Even with his face towards the ground, Matt felt it. He could see it. The world grew sharper, and colors gained contrast for an instant before returning to normal.

Matt didn’t know what the Tier 50 did, but Griff and the other two looked pale and haggard after the words.

Like that the official, Griff and the woman were just gone. Matt didn’t even hear the door.

Still kneeling, they waited for what came next.

“Get up kids. Will you? Ugh, this is a shit show.”

As they stood and faced the Emperor, they saw him at a desk with pads scattered about with papers covering the free spaces. Screens were obstructing part of the desk until a waive from the Emperor made them vanish.

“That’s better. Hey kids. Who would have thought that I’d be hearing about Lily twice in one day?” The Emperor smiled and waved at them. Matt felt his stomach tighten.

“I’ll get right to it. These inter-planet connections are expensive, so I’ll try to be brief. My AI just pinged me about your Talent Melinda. Can I call you Melinda?”

Melinda just nodded, still struck dumb. The Emperor seemed surprisingly personable. During the royal decree, he was stern, and even in a recording, he had an air around him that screamed power and authority.

Now he was like a kind uncle. Even his luminescent eyes were warm. It unsettled Matt, in his experience, people with strength did not take notice of the weak unless they had something they wanted.

“Thanks. I deal with enough formalities every day. Would you mind sharing why my AI lost its shit with notifications? You don’t have to, but it might make things easier.”

Melinda had to clear her throat twice before she could get out. “You can’t just… Umm... see it, your majesty?”

The Emperor chuckled at that. “Nope, if there is one loophole, it risks security breaches, so not even I can see without permission.”

That surprised Matt. Everyone said no one could see your Talent, but this was the Emperor. The very man who controlled the system. Matt wouldn’t have believed it if he hadn’t heard it out of the man’s mouth. But why else would he be talking to them now and not just viewing her Talent himself?

Melinda nodded and said, “I don’t mind. It would answer some questions I have as well.”

“Good, the six of you are... Wait, why are there seven? Who are you?” Looking at Matt, the Emperor clearly didn’t expect him.

“He’s an ally and a friend. I trust him. And we’ve all already shared our info.” Melinda spoke up for him.

“Ah ok. Still...” the Emperor’s golden eyes flicked as if he was reading something “Matthew Alexander. Age: almost 15, Tier 1 Talent rating of Detrimental? Humm... Sponsored by… Humm... Ok, Matt, I gotta ask for your story. That’s just too weird.”

Matt felt put under a microscope the glowing eyes of the ruler of thousands of planets seemed to strip away everything that made him unique. Quickly he thought about how to explain as fast as possible.

“I was given a detrimental Talent at Tier 1, your majesty.” Matt brought his pad out and flicked his information to the screen. Talent and skill now showing to the seven in the room and the Emperor planets away.

The Emperor read the information over, and Matt continued, “I wasn’t able to join the guild with the rating and worked at an inn called Benny’s where I met my sponsors and got my skill shard.”

The Emperor, reading the skill information, asked, “Did your sponsors...” he looked away “Dena and Eric give it to you?”

Matt really wanted to lie and say they did, but he didn’t want them to get in trouble. He also figured that lying to a Tier 50 would be a recipe for disaster.

Reluctantly he told the story. Instead of being angry at the theft, the Emperor just laughed during the story.

“Hold on, you said it was called Benny’s? Let me get the security footage.”

A moment later, footage showed that night, the group swaggered in at twice the normal speed and replayed the event as Matt described. The Emperor laughed so hard when the man threw the skill shard. Matt thought he might hurt himself.

As the footage showed Matt pulling Zephyr out of the brawl. The Emperor asked, “Wait, where did you get the skill shard?”

Matt told him, and the Emperor went back and replayed the moment before saying, “Good hands, kid. I can’t even see it with you pointing it out.”

The video continued to the man waiving the mana wand at patrons and demanding that Benny let him search others. When they walked out of the frame, it showed Matt pulling the pad apart and hiding the skill shard, being scanned, and then the man leaving in a huff.

“So your majesty, that’s why Dena and Eric sponsored me.”

“While this was very impressive of you. No, it wasn’t. They put the paperwork in for your sponsorship two weeks before this happened.”

The Emperor flicked a finger and on the screen showed a sponsorship form to the PlayPen, and it was dated just as the Emperor said. Two full weeks before the duel and theft.

Matt didn’t know what to make of that. Dena and Eric had planned on sponsoring him before the spar? He had thought it was a spur-of-the-moment decision.

“Thanks for the laughs, kid. That was good. With your Talent and their recommendation, I expect great things from you in the next few hundred years. You’ve got balls.”

He then looked back at Melinda. “Now to you, Melinda. If you would?”

Melinda took her pad and flicked information to the screen. On it appeared.

Melinda:

Talent Tier 1: All healing skills are 50% more effective and cost 50% less mana to cast.

Talent Tier 3: All Healing has the ‘Overhealth’ effect.

Skills: [Ranged Heal]

The Emperor looked as shocked as Matt felt. He let out a whistle with widened eyes. The sound created the same effect as before, the world sharpening for an instant.

“Do you mind if I call my chief healer over? Honestly, I’m not sure what this means. I have some ideas, but. Well, I’d rather get an expert’s opinion.”

At Melinda’s yes, he flicked his glowing eyes, and not a full second later, an older man appeared.

After being quickly filled in by the Emperor, he glanced at the screen and spoke, “Ah well, this is rare. Overhealth has only been seen on some cracked or upgraded skills before. Well, to start, Overhealth functions like an automatic directed healing skill, so limbs regenerate with no effort, and the skill won’t stop when a normal undirected skill would.”

“It works kind of like the [Regeneration] controversy. It will take some testing to see if a Talent works the same way. I don’t think anyone’s ever gotten a Talent with Overhealth before.”

That seemed to clue the Emperor in, but Matt was still in the dark. Judging by the looks around him, Melinda’s party felt the same way.

Looking through the screen, the older man asked, “I’m assuming none of you have heard of it? It usually doesn’t matter till after Tier 15.”

At Melinda’s no, he continued, “Well there is a rare orb from Tier 15 and above rifts that can upgrade any skill. When used, it makes massive changes to the skill, and it’s always more powerful.”

“Well mostly always, which is where [Regeneration] comes in. Normally the skill works like any normal healing skill, you put in mana, and you heal. With the upgrade orb, it changes.”

“Then it’s more like a channeled skill where you can dump as much mana in at a time to increase the effect. Not only that, but it also changes how it heals. If you are a physical type cultivator, [Regeneration] is always useful, but it can take months to grow back an arm. With [Upgraded Regeneration] it’s like healing a percentage of health. At the same mana, it heals better the more physical cultivation you have.”

“It’s easy to think of with numbers. If you have a hundred health healing, ten per minute is a lot, but if you have ten thousand, it doesn’t help much. [Upgraded Regeneration] is like healing one percent of your max health a minute. The upgrade is good for physical cultivators who have more ‘health’, the non-upgraded is better for mana cultivators. There are some people who think this means we all have hidden health bars and are in a video game, but they are idiots.”

The statement looked to irritate the older man, and he scoffed, “Physical cultivation makes you stronger and tougher. Of course, it’s harder to heal what’s harder to damage.”

“Overhealth is most commonly seen when someone takes what should have been a lethal hit with [Upgraded Regeneration] active. They can come back from what should have stopped a normal healing spell because they were dead. The Overhealing won’t stop when they are considered ‘dead’ by a normal skill. It only stops when the mana put into the skill has run its course.”

“A good example is of a healer with a cracked [Healing Touch] with an Overhealth effect. Someone’s head got smashed flat.” The man clapped, “The brain was completely destroyed, and even with the best medical technology and healing, he should have stayed dead. Even if he had been saved, his memories should have been wiped. New grey matter had to grow.”

“With the Overhealth, though, it was like a balloon inflating. Poof, he was up and perfectly fine, memories intact. Closest thing to a miracle you’ll ever see.”

Melinda asked with eyes wide, “What does that mean for my Talent?”

The healer looked to the Emperor before saying, “It means you just became the most valuable healer in the Empire. Every spell you cast will guarantee your party doesn’t stay dead. Further testing will need to be done, but I don’t think you’ll ever need to learn directed healing skills. You can have a very lucrative career in either the civilian or delving side of medicine. I’d be happy to...”

The Emperor lifted a hand, and the man stopped immediately. “She and her party are on The Path, and we won’t interfere”

“Of course, your majesty. I got ahead of myself.”

The Emperor waved him down and looked through the screen. “If you wish to leave The Path, I won’t stop you, and I’m sure Tullies would snatch you up in a heartbeat. But instead, I’ll just leave the offer on the table if you guys decide to stop climbing or fall off.”

“My time on The Path was some of the best of my life. It’s where I made the truest of friends and had the moments I’m proudest of. I only made it to Tier 20 before falling off, but those Tiers are truly mine. No one can say that I didn’t earn those.”

“Ascend as much as you can. I can guarantee that no one will talk about your Talent, but I want a promise from all of you.”

The seven of them nodded. For the first time, the Emperor looked stern. Even the soft light radiating from his eyes grew hard. For a moment, the colors contrasted, and the world sharpened. It lasted only a breath. “Don’t die. Don’t push yourselves till you take stupid risks. I don’t just say this because of your Talent but because it’s a trap. So many try to be the next Duke Water’s and end up corpses. I’ve lost too many friends to rifts, and I’ll never know how they died. Don’t add to their numbers”

The Emperor looked to the side and said, “I’ve taken up enough of your time. Can you send in the other three? I need to make things clear to them. Go and enjoy your evening and have the rager you deserve for reaching Tier 3.” With a smile, he dismissed them.

Hurrying out the door, they saw Griff and the other two pacing the hall. When Melinda informed them that the Emperor wanted to see them, the trio looked like they were walking to their own executions.

Matt noticed that none of them hesitated to enter the room despite their trepidation.

They all looked at each other before Vinnie said, “I need a fucking drink. And a change of underwear.”