Chapter 40

The area surrounding ground zero was a madhouse. Over the last three months, people had flooded the city in waves. Now, with just three days to go, Matt couldn’t believe the crowds.

Travis and Keith’s flying house was on the leading edge of the clear area. From Matt’s vantage on their balcony, he was looking at a wall of people so thick, the sky was only visible by craning his neck vertically.

People had filled in the surrounding areas in numbers he had never imagined. Tier 15 immortals took up most of the space. They either hovered around the floating houses like swarms of flies, or took residence in the vast bleachers that had been constructed from mana. Flying devices of every shape and size were on display, each a reflection of their wielder’s personality.

There was only a small portion of the surroundings dedicated to those under Tier 15, and those accommodations were much less cramped. But from Matt’s understanding, they also had amenities that the rest lacked like bathrooms and showers.

It surprised Matt how many people were willing to wait around for a week or longer, just for the chance at a reality shard. The benefits for advancement from watching the ascension were always going to be the same for everyone there. Whether you were able to physically see the event or not had no real bearing on the outcome.

The only real difference was the reality shards.

Each shard was a crystalized moment in time. It would allow those near the shard to experience the same effect as one would if they were present for the moment of ascension. They were incredibly rare, and even more valuable. The volume produced during an ascension was equal to only about half the mass of the ascender.

On top of the general scarcity, they didn’t last for any more than five years before they dissipated on their own.

It led to everyone in the Empire constantly vying to get their hands on the elusive shards. By custom and law, no one was permitted to fight over the shards. That still didn’t stop people from restricting the area near the ascension, and then selling access for enormous sums of mana stones.

Matt didn’t need to see over the crest of the nearest mountain to know that the bleachers, floating homes, and flying swords were just as thick for miles out. Being surrounded by this many people, he felt like he was caught in a locust swarm.

He looked to Liz, who was lounging next to him, reading a book on her pad. “I don’t get why people pack themselves in so tight. Wanting to get a reality shard is understandable, but look at the price for a spot even a quarter-mile out. It’s going for Tier 13 mana stones. And the price is still rising.”

Liz slowly used a finger to turn her digital page and said, “Despite the historical evidence showing no benefit from a closer distance to the ascension, people still think it helps. That, or they just really want to see it.”

Matt shook his head. “I don’t get it. It’s a waste of money. If we weren’t with Travis, I wouldn’t be bothered to come from the other side of the planet.”

Liz shrugged a shoulder distractedly. “Easy to say when you have a front-row seat to the event.”

That stung more than Matt liked.

There was a commotion that brought him out of his meandering thoughts. A wave of murmurs and disgruntled comments passed, as someone moved through the wall of cultivators next to them.

Aunt Helen popped out wearing a sundress and floppy hat. For all the world, she looked like a young woman out on a stroll. Unlike everyone else, she wasn’t using a flying device or a beast form. She was clearly using [Flight]. That was a Tier 38 skill.

She quickly caught sight of the waving Liz, and came to the front gate. The defensive shielding was put up after someone had landed on their roof. Keith’s comment that Phoenixes were jealous birds did not go over well with either of the siblings, but Matt had found it funny.

Aunt Helen was quickly let in, to the irritation of those flying near them.

The older Phoenix opened her arms, and pulled both Liz and Matt into a hug. “Oh, it’s so good to see you two.” She pushed them back to arm’s length, carefully inspecting them both, “Good. You both look chipper. You two were a little on edge after the training planet. I’m glad to see you relaxed. Time off is just as important as pushing hard.”

Travis came out of the front door, and it was his turn to be mulled over. He took it with good graces. Even when the much shorter woman started fussing with his hair, he accepted her criticisms with a smile.

Keith just picked the woman up and swung her around, to the delighted giggle of the Tier 24. After the appropriate pleasantries were handled, they made their way into the living room. There, Aunt Helen demanded to hear about Travis and Keith’s latest adventures.

It was late into the night when they were finally preparing to eat. Aunt Helen came into the kitchen.

Matt sputtered, “I uhh, can leave if you want to do the cooking. I know I’m not very good.”

“Oh, hush. Don’t put yourself down.” Aunt Helen reached out and rubbed his back. “We all started at the bottom. Don’t feel bad for not having a few million years to practice your craft.”

Her smile was sweet and held only understanding.

She waved a hand, and a book appeared. “This is my cookbook. Physical books are best for cooking, as you can make little notes and things.”

Liz had been watching him cook and poked her head over the shorter Phoenix’s shoulder, and looked at the book with Matt.

“Aunt Helen, that’s not even Empire standard. They aren’t even letters or characters. They look like hieroglyphs.”

The older Phoenix flushed red as her feathered hair and swatted at Liz, who was leaning over the woman’s shoulder.

“I pulled out the wrong one.”

Liz wrapped the woman up in a hug from behind and cooed, “Aunt Helen. You are sooooo old!”

“Elizabeth, get out of my kitchen.”

Matt tried not to laugh and bring attention to himself. He couldn’t really believe that the woman was so old, she predated the current written language system. Or even the character-based languages that some of the other powers used.

Liz kept her arms wrapped around the shorter woman and laughed. “This is Travis’ kitchen. Hahaha. You have no power here!”

“Every kitchen I’m in is my kitchen.”

That just made the younger Phoenix laugh harder.

Then Aunt Helen brought out the big guns. “I won’t give you even scraps...”

Before she finished, Liz set her down and kissed the woman’s cheek, running out of the room. “Love youuuu.”

Aunt Helen removed a newer cookbook and handed it to Matt. “You can have this one.”

He knew it was a bad idea, but had to ask, “Is this also written in a forgotten language?”

The wooden spoon left a stinging spot on his rear end.

“It’s not forgotten.” There was a pause, “I still know it.”

Aunt Helen’s glare dared him to test her further.

Even Matt wasn’t that brave.

Seeing him drop the subject, her smile returned, and she asked, “What were you thinking we should make for dinner? What have you all eaten recently?”

Matt told her, and she just nodded in response. She suggested they cook a pasta heavy fare. Truth be told, he was terrified that the more experienced cook would find him wanting and kick him out of the kitchen. But the Phoenix had nothing bad to say.

She had a suggestion or eight, but they were kind, and never came across as her lording her experience and knowledge over him. Aunt Helen was happy to help him improve, and gave him tips along with every step of the process.

If my cooking instructor could see me, she’d kill to get in my place.

Matt didn’t think he was exaggerating. His instructor had gushed over the woman next to him time and time again, after he casually mentioned Helen. She had specifically said that she would do anything to meet Helen, let alone cook with her.

I guess it really isn’t what you know. Sometimes it’s who you know.

In the end, the dinner was better than it had any right to be. They used the materials on hand, but somehow, the Tier 24 made this dish better than any pasta Matt had ever tasted, let alone cooked himself.

Dinner was mostly spent with Aunt Helen getting revenge on Liz by sharing embarrassing childhood stories. Travis and Keith took pleasure in adding details or telling their own stories.

Liz ended up eating half the meal herself, in an effort to keep her face down and mouth occupied.

***

It was time. Matt watched the man step onto the platform that was gouged out from the mountainside, three feet below the surface. According to Travis’s eye-roll filled explanation, it was the exact place where the Tier 46 had been born. Why he couldn’t have done the ascension a few feet higher was lost on Matt, but in the end, he didn’t care. It was just the frivolity of the strong.

Matt was too busy rehashing everything that Travis had gone over with him months ago, when they had first arrived.

***

Travis sat in front of Matt, and he didn’t know what to think of the Tier 17. He was Liz’s brother, but he was still the strongest person Matt had ever spent an appreciable amount of time with.

Travis was sitting with legs crossed, and when he spoke, his voice was melodic enough that Matt assumed he was repeating someone else. He said, “Concepts are personal. They’re as unique as the individual.” He cracked an eye open and, in his normal voice, asked, “What was your Concept Phrase again?”

“I Am Endless.” Matt’s spirit quivered at the spoken words. They were right.

Travis nodded. “I’m going to assume that my sister covered most of this, but you have options. Your Concept is vague enough that you can go with anything from abstract geometry to fractals. You can also ground it more in reality, or go with something like the time of death. You can go with the heat death of the universe, like Aster is suggesting. Or finally, you can do something most others can’t do. Incorporate yourself into the image.”

“I haven’t seen anything about that. That seems pretty perfect for me. My phrase has ‘I’ in it.”

Travis just smiled, saying, “Go ahead and try to picture something with you in it. Take your best, firmest, Concept, and add yourself.”

Matt did as he said, and pictured the bubbling spring, and added himself sitting on the beach. The image shattered as soon as he placed the thought of his own presence.

Travis grinned at Matt’s slight jerk. “Yeah. Putting yourself in the image makes it a million times harder to form. It also comes with some drawbacks. You need to make the image of yourself not only reflect ‘you’ now, but also link it to yourself in the future. You have to allow the image to grow with you. If you don’t, your Concept itself will impede your growth, as it’ll lock yourself into the ‘you’ of when you created it.”

“If it’s that hard, there have to be some advantages to doing it, then right?”

Travis’ grin turned feral. “Ohh yeah. It’s a massive power boost, and it focuses your power inward. Most Concepts affect the outside world. If you put yourself there, they can boost both outward and inward power. My Concept is ‘I will hold up the sky.’ I have myself as my image, with the sky on my shoulders. When the pressure mounts and the going gets tough, I get stronger and faster. My spells hit that much harder. My Concept doesn’t do much, except when I feel truly threatened.”

That sounded really nice to Matt. He wanted that kind of power. To be faster and stronger.

“It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. I can’t do what someone who has a fire Concept can do. I can’t control other flames or anything. All of my power is internal, and can only be realized when I cast spells. But if I had a spell Concept, it would be stronger. Still, it fits me pretty well.”

Travis shifted around, twisting and cracking his back with a loud pop before he continued, “Ok. So ‘endless’ can mean a lot of things, and you should work on figuring out what it means to you in particular. There are no wrong answers here, but your image will heavily influence how your Concept expresses itself. A sun, like you’re currently working on, might give you fire powers, or just give you an internal fire that won’t run out. Giving stamina and possibly more mana. Once your image is firm, you can feel what kind of effect it’ll have. Then you can then work on your mental image of it, and tweak the effect a bit.”

They worked on his image for only an hour. Travis insisted that they needed a break, and overworking could lead the mind into ruts that could be hard to escape.

“What can I expect from the ascension? I can only find that it will help online, nothing about how it helps exactly.”

Travis had laid down in the interval, and had his feet crossed as if he had not a worry in the world.

He probably doesn’t.

“The ascension will weaken the walls of reality, and your mind will travel down its various paths much easier. You’ll find inspiration, and the image or phrases you think of will be better. It will also let you solidify the image more efficiently. But, any progress you make during the ascension won’t be lost if you don’t complete your Concept during it.”

Matt looked at the older man and decided to ask, “What are you working for? Your Intent?”

Travis nodded. “I’ve had my Concept since Tier 8, and I’ve been working on my Intent from then till now. I don’t think this will be what gets me there, but it’ll definitely help. Intents and Aspects are much harder to make than a Concept. You need a lot of time with the lower level to make the jump. I’ve only had it for a hundred years, give or take. That’s a pretty short time frame for making an Intent.”

Matt thought about that. One large problem stuck out to him. “So that’s why it’s the final hurdle for The Path of Ascension.”

Travis grinned, “Yup. Even in the best case scenario, you on The Path, only have two hundred years. Most take four hundred, bare minimum. It’s what sets the prodigies apart from the common man. Uncle Waters had his Aspect at Tier 23. The man is called a monster for a reason.”

***

Matt had come a long way from his first lessons, and had an idea of the image he wanted to create when the moment came.

He watched the man, Dominic, just waiting. The ascension was set for thirteen minutes past noon, the exact moment he had been born.

Matt watched the man, he was only wearing a thin white robe. At 12:03, he stood from his seat on the platform. The only other things accompanying him were the Baroness, who was completely ignored, and a basin of water.

Dominic’s voice wasn’t deep or commanding. He sounded almost… normal to Matt. The only giveaway for the man’s status was that his voice carried to everyone present.

“Today, I ascend.”

The man paused, but there was no cheer or applause. If he was expecting it, or bothered by the lack thereof, he didn’t show it in the slightest.

“Here in this exact spot, thirty-four thousand, seven hundred, and five years ago, I was born. Through my own power and ingenuity, I ascended through the Tiers, until now. When I ascend for the final time on these lower realms, it is up to you to seize your own destiny and power. Nothing will be given to you. You must do as I did, and take advantage of every opportunity, or you will amount to nothing.”

“I was born to a Tier 2 mother and Tier 3 father. They were weak, and had no ambition or drive. I am their greatest achievement. Two otherwise unremarkable souls, that would be otherwise forgotten, are immortalized with the good fortune to be my parents.”

Matt wanted to sneer. Travis and Keith had already talked about the arrogance of their guild leader, but this was too much. From his official history, Dominic had been born here to, as he said, two otherwise unremarkable parents. But they had worked themself to early graves to provide their son with a better start in life. The planet had only been Tier 1 at the time of their settling, and the birth of their only child.

It put a sour taste in Matt’s mouth to hear someone talk about their parents like that.

He also wasn’t self-made in the least. He had bounced around from guild to guild, taking what he could. He spent more time scheming his way into getting recruited by higher guilds, than working to benefit his current guild.

This whole thing felt so disingenuous. Matt wished the man would just ascend, and leave this lower realm with one less narcissistic asshole.

Dominic’s voice cut through the surroundings again. “I have power most will only ever dream of. If you were fated to be here, I welcome you. If you were unable to be here, you can only blame your fortune.”

With this, he removed the single ring on his finger.

“These are all of my worldly possessions. I bequeath them to the Baroness on this planet. May she give it to those fated to have it.”

That was it? He was able to stipulate nearly any use of the resources, and he was just going to give it to the noble? Matt had no doubt that the ring’s contents, and probably the ring itself, would never leave the woman’s possession.

Stepping up to the basin, Dominic dipped three of his fingers into the water, and raised his dripping hand above his head.

“I came into this world from the water of the womb, and I leave it through the water of the world.”

With a shrug of his shoulders, the thin robe fell to the ground, and he started to rise into the air.

There was a subtle difference that told Matt he wasn’t using [Flight]. He seemed to be like a piece of wood, trying to reach the surface and find equilibrium.

As Dominic rose, he became more and more insubstantial, and somehow more real at the same time. Reality seemed to warp around him, and crystallize as his speed increased. There was a final instant where Dominic seemed to be the most substantial thing in the world, as he was the very center of the universe, and then, he was gone.

Matt didn’t have time to watch space and reality fracture, while it rained down in shards of what appeared to be glass.

He was too focused on the center of his core, where his Concept would go. There was energy in the air that seemed to permeate from his mind through to his spirit. As the energy made its way into him, he pictured his Concept.

I Am Endless.

The phrase rang out in his mind.

The images he had worked on flashed through his mind. Each version of the sun was obvious, clear. Where they had been thin and hollow, they now firmed up and filled in. Where they would crumble at the slightest pressure, they were now made from granite.

Where the image of the burbling brook was the wrong color and shaped for the hole in his spirit, the suns were the wrong texture.

Despite them not being what he wanted, Matt knew they were created well enough to slot into his core, and complete the Concept.

With the abundance of the energy from the ascension flowing through Matt, he knew he had time.

It was the same as an ascension would be for the unawakened. They had about thirty hours before the effects faded, and they would receive no bonus to their Talent if it was awakened after the energy faded. Matt had time, but he knew that if he lost the trance, he would be hard-pressed to reenter the state of mind that the initial wave of energy brought on.

He knew that they were also in special seats that Aunt Helen had brought. They would help relieve the effects of long meditation, but he still hurried to take advantage of the energy surging through him.

Matt tried the second path of images he was working on. Fractals and abstract math formulas formed kaleidoscopic, repeating images. He even tried to work the more abstract ideas of endless. He felt no connection to any of them. Even with the energy boost helping him create the images, he didn’t feel like they were good choices.

Mobius strips, optical illusions, the numerical representation of pi. None of them fit his image of endless. He even tried gold on a whim. It was non-reactive, and did not rust at all, but he didn’t feel any real connection while the idea of gold formed. The next metal he thought to try was iron. When a universe experienced heat death, that element would be all that remained.

He built the image of the cold and end. Just Iron left, no heat or energy left in the image. Matt knew Aster would love the image, as he could feel that it would come with some freezing cold or slowing effect. It wasn’t him.

Liz’s lesson came to him, and he decided to go out on a limb and try the first thing she told him.

“Ok. Now while in that space, go in and start picturing something endless. It doesn’t have to be something real. It can be an idea, like a perpetual motion machine, or one of those twisty river drawings that connect the bottom to the top. But those are just some ideas off the top of my head for endless. For now, think of a spring in the earth pushing out water.”

It doesn’t have to be something real.

Something real.

***

Aster watched the strange man float into the air but snapped at the gnat that landed on her tail.

She felt the odd feeling of the energy flow into her.

Liz, Helen, and Travis had warned her about this, so she formed the Concept of Cold in her cores. It only took a moment for the image of frozen stillness to crystallize. It had always been there, so it was child’s play for her. She didn’t know why her humans made such a big deal out of this.

Once the moment ended, she stood up, but found all the others still sitting down.

Then, the moment struck where her cores compacted on their own.

With the structure of the Concept, nature took over, and her cores shrunk as she broke into Tier 5.

Aster realized something.

She was... her.

There were new thoughts.

The realization that she was thinking about her thoughts sent a wave through the white fox.

Her head hurt. With a pounding headache, Aster curled into a ball to sleep it off. She knew so many new things.

***

Liz watched the arrogant ass ascend, and hoped that he found himself in the boonies of the greater realms.

Dominic was an asshole she wouldn’t wish on anyone.

Pushing the distracting thoughts away, she firmed her will.

She had one image, but she wanted a better one.

Liz was blood. She used the flood of energy seeping into the planet to form a new image. She wasn’t just an abstract Phoenix coming back through blood.

No.

She was Elizabeth Moore. BethBeth to some, Liz to others.

But in the end, she was Blood.

Liz forced her image to change. She was reborn through blood. All blood was her, and from any single drop, she could come back.

Something clicked, and the image slotted into her cores on its own. She was unable to stop or halt the process. And why would she? She could feel that this image was perfect for her.

The image of her form being cut down, flowing into a splash of blood, and reforming as a Phoenix looped over and over.

She had done it.

The Liz in her image even felt linked to her. It would grow with her.

Concepts with an image containing yourself as the subject focused the power inward, but Liz didn’t have that problem. Her blood was indeed an internal power, but she used it outwardly.

She got the best of both worlds.

Smiling, Liz opened her eyes. For an instant, they flashed red and she saw.

Her blood sang to her.

***

Matt spun up the image of a black hole.

It was easy to manage it, pulling in the power of everything. It was exactly the opposite of what he was. Matt gave mana out in a never-ending stream. He didn’t pull it in.

When the image was as good as he could make it, he inverted it.

Matt wasn’t a black hole.

Matt was a white hole.

He didn’t absorb energy. He gave it.

Endlessly.

The image started out cracked and thin. His connection to the image was shaky at best, and mostly driven by his fascination with stars and space.

Space spoke to him. It was larger than life, and somehow that was comforting.

The image of light, heat, and matter spewing out from a cosmic theory. That didn’t bother him at all. If it didn’t exist, he would create it from nothing.

Matt was nothing, if not stubborn.

Slowly the image crystallized. A blinding, endless spout of energy. Matter and light spread to the far reaches of space, and all around the image.

Even with the energy from the ascension assisting Matt, the image started weak. It was turning from a paper-thin image to one with the strength of an eggshell.

He began strengthening the image, like a house built from the ground up.

He was strengthening the foundation brick by brick, layer by layer. The image was filled in and given more depth and substance with each passing moment. Eternities whirled by, but Matt took no notice of them. Time meant nothing to him. He was endless after all.

Still, something wasn’t right.

With instinct more than knowledge guiding him, Matt changed the output of the image from mundane matter and energy to mana.

Instantly, the image of a white hole filled in the empty slot in his core. It rushed in like water from a released dam, and turned to the hardest of steel in his spirit.

Everything locked into place. Like the perfect puzzle piece, the image that he never knew was missing slipped right into place.

Color, shape, size, and texture all matched perfectly.

Matt opened his eyes.

With a flash of blueish-white, he saw.