Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

It was five days after the initial teleports to the training planet started, when they encountered the first group of Republic delvers.

It was a group of four. They were walking the opposite way in the canyon, and as they crossed paths with Matt, Liz, and Aster, they stopped. The group waved them down, and Matt received a message.

'A match for an equivalent prize? We are willing to wager a Tier 5 tailoring thread that increases lightning resistance.'

Matt and Liz looked at each other, and Liz sent 'Team or single fights?'

The response came back quickly, 'Teams, of course.'

That was as Matt expected, as they had a two-person advantage, but he felt confident. They were peak Tier 4's, but their cores felt airy. They either hadn't bothered to compact their essence, or had relied on essence stones for their advancement.

He and Liz had cores like steel. Monster essence was by nature more compact, and as they both had only advanced with rift essence, they never had to worry about secondary compression. On top of that, their teamwork had only gotten better over the last few days of delving untouched rifts.

Matt thought over the loot they had, and offered the Tier 5 blacksmith catalyst they had found. With the prizes settled and everyones AIs linked, they squared off.

The leftmost enemy shot out a crescent of wind, which Matt simply barreled straight through as he closed the distance. It was less of a blade and more of a small cyclone. The blunt wind damage had no chance of breaking through [Cracked Phantom Armor].

He was intercepted by the opposing teams two melee fighters. One had large gauntlets that glowed a yellow. Matt got the impression of an earth affinity from them through his spirit sense.

The second melee combatant had a thin saber of some mysterious make that Matts AI couldn't immediately identify. The thin blade twisted like a snake as its wielder lunged for a stab at his shoulder.

Matt was surprised. Two enchanted weapons of the fifth Tier? That confirmed his suspicions about this group coming from money. And they certainly did spend it. Tier 5 weapons came with a large price increase, because they usually had an embedded skill. Making a weapon of that caliber usable by a lower Tier only added to the exorbitant price.

It also gave up the game they were playing at. This group used their weak spirits to lure in teams they felt they could handle, using their superior equipment.

When Matt brought his sword down to parry the slithering saber, the gauntlet fighter landed a clean blow to his ribs.

He felt the skill activate. It tried to bypass his armor and deal earthquake-like concussive force to his weaker insides. A good anti-armor skill. Unfortunately for the gauntlet fighter, [Cracked Phantom Armor] didnt behave like physical armor. Matts skill stopped the damage in its tracks, letting virtually nothing leak through.

If they were a true Tier 5 weapon, the gauntlets tremors would have easily disrupted [Cracked Phantom Armor]s structure in his spirit. But weakened as they were for the weilders sake, they lacked the power required.

Matt was knocked back but otherwise unfazed from the first combination attack. He created an opening against the opposing swordsman by disarming him with a flourish of his longsword, and took advantage with a powerful downward slash.

The swordsman's armor was as good as his weapon, so Matt used his full strength. It was a clean strike, but it had only staggered his opponent. The saber user was wearing light armor to maintain freedom of movement and speed, but there were still heavily reinforced sections. Matt was unlucky to hit a particularly well padded section of pauldron.

He had more essence in his physical core than anyone of his Tier, and while this man's core was filled to its peak, his physical cultivation paled in comparison to Matts at low Tier 4. If it wasn't for the expensive armor, the opposing swordsmans arm would be dangling off his shoulder by frayed tendons.

Suddenly, an arrow slammed into his neck from his blind spot. It wasn't a killing blow, but if [Cracked Phantom Armor] hadn't stopped it, he wouldve had to leave immediately for emergency treatment. His AI hadn't even had time to warn him. The information he received after the fact showed that the arrow was shot at Liz, but twisted in the air, making the path unpredictable.

Matt took his anger out on the saber user, who continued to dance around him. Predicting their next move, he tucked his arm into the side of his body, and threw it out sideways, towards the direction of the swordsmans slash. He easily tanked the blow to his arm, knocking the saber user off balance in the process, and brought the enchanted blade of his longsword down on his opponents exposed hip.

He felt bone break and saw blood fly, sending the man to the ground, screaming and clutching at his waist.

Matt didn't understand the words the man spat at him through his agony, but he definitely understood the venom behind them. He could venture a few guesses at what kind of emphatic curses were sent his way. His AI however, did not consider the words important enough to translate mid-fight.

The gauntlet user retaliated by tackling Matt to the ground and trying to grapple him. It was a good way to counter heavily armored foes. Armor doesn't defend against limbs bending in ways they aren't supposed to.

The issue with that strategy was that it didn't account for Matts superior strength. He was easily able to gain the upper hand with a reversal, and the gauntlet user quickly found themselves in a nasty arm bar. With some leverage generated from a hip thrust, Matt snapped the Republic brawlers arm at the elbow.

Looking up, Matt saw that Elizabeth had shredded the archer's armor, and incapacitated them. She was using their blood to batter the wind mage, who was hiding in a bubble of circulating air currents.

Pushing the mage back with blow after blow from bludgeons of blood, it was only a few more moments until Liz got him to step near a puddle of blood. With the trap sprung, Aster froze the puddle over. With one final blow, Liz pushed the mage back onto the frozen blood, and they lost their footing on the slick ice. The wind shield dissipated with their concentration broken, and Liz was quickly able to finish the mage off.

Matt turned the translation feature of his AI on and asked, "So where's our prize?"

They didn't receive an answer, and a small spool of thread was thrown to his feet as the lights signaling teleportation enveloped their opponents.

The vanishing figures made sure to fit in a few yelled curses regarding their lineage as they left. One even referenced some supposed sexual deviancies with various wild beasts.

Such a beautiful language.

With a chuckle, Liz walked over, with her stolen blade slung across her shoulders.

"Some people just don't like losing. I didn't know I was the daughter of a pig fucker."

Matt laughed. "Huh? I'm apparently an otter fucker. I wonder, why an otter though? Seems random."

Liz had no answer, and they shared a few more wise cracks about the outlandish insults.

The armored blood mage looked around and asked, "Want to head back as well? The auction will be starting in two days. And I'd like to get there a little early."

Matt weighed the options and agreed, "Sure, most of the rifts have had their first delve done already. Better to sell our loot, and head back out with better gear and an extra skill."

He had a thought as they were reaching for the beacons. "Wait, do you want to go try and dig up your bag? Now that we arent in any rush to delve, it might be worth a shot."

Liz perked up "Good idea, I was just gonna hire an earth manipulator to dig it out. Worth a shot to see if we can do it ourselves."

As they jogged to the landslide, they encountered a standoff.

"Hold up." As Matt sized up the fighters, he recognized one. It was the mage who had blocked him from entering a rift a while back.

The mage was battling against a group of Republic delvers.

From a safe distance, they watched as the battle started. The group of republican delvers was a party of 4. There was a massive man in full plate, carrying a mace and shield. The group also had an archer, a mage of some type, and a whip user.

The lone mage didn't seem perturbed. As they slashed out with a hand, and the same [Mana Spear] that blasted Matt shoved the shield-wielding tank back several steps.

As the archer took aim and loosed an arrow, the mystery mage sidestepped and returned fire with his [Mana Spear]. This one was bigger and faster than the one launched at the tank. It ripped through the cold air with a scream.

The weaker [Mana Spear] had staggered the likes of Matt and the tank. This one punched right through the archer. He had dodged, but the blast of mana curved slightly to catch him in the side. The now wounded archer fell, and tried to staunch the bleeding from the new hole in his side. After a moment, his band lit up, and he was teleported away.

While the archer was taken out, The Republic groups mage and tank tried to mount a counter attack together. Using the tank as a shield, the Republic mage launched a steady diet of [Fireball]s at the mystery mage. The whip user tried to use his range advantage to flank their opponent, but being so lightly armored, he was much more worried about dodging the perilous blasts than attacking.

When the armored tank closed within melee distance, Matt expected the mage to retreat. Instead, he shoved a glowing hand at the tank's shield, and a [Mana Spear] punched completely through, denting the tanks heavy armor. The man's chest plate had an indent at least three inches deep. Matt highly doubted that the tanks ribcage was still intact. He was quickly removed by a flash of light, just as his partner before him.

The remaining two of the Republic group held up their hands, and were gone in a flash, retreating with their injured teammates.

The victorious mage turned their head to Matt, Liz, and Aster. The trio took a step back. They didn't need to talk to know this was a fight they couldn't win.

Matts AI was giving him feedback, and had calculated an eighty percent chance of the mages [Mana Spear] punching right through [Cracked Phantom Armor] at full power. They wanted no parts of this fight, and Matt began planning a way to cover Liz and Asters retreat. If the mage showed the slightest inkling of hostile intent, he would do whatever it took to protect them. Battle plans were running through his AI and transferring to Liz's as fast as his mana throughput would allow.

Their sense of dread was for naught, as the mage turned, and entered the nearby Tier 5 rift.

Letting out a sigh of relief, Liz said, "Well, shit. He sure hit like a truck. Peak Tier 5 if my spiritual sense was right."

Matt hadn't been able to get that clear of a scan, but he didn't need one to know the mystery mage was stronger than him. He had already been beaten once. He didnt need a second example of their power.

They finished their jog to the landslide in silence. Matt was busy contemplating what he could possibly do to fight an opponent so much stronger, but was coming up blank. If he was so outclassed, only relying on [Cracked Phantom Armor] to stop the blow was suicide.

With their spirits a little dampened from being humbled, they arrived at the landslide, and started to dig where their AIs approximated the bag to be. After an hour of digging, they came up with nothing and called it quits. Even with Liz burning through mana to dig with a blood scoop, the radius provided by the AIs was too wide to completely cover.

Deciding to cut their losses, they activated their non-emergency teleport beacons and waited. Matt had a thought and mentioned, "Oh, I have guild-level access to the auction, so we won't have to pay the full fees. That'll be nice."

Intrigued, Liz asked Matt to explain, leading to a quick synopsis of how his mana donations had helped to start the teleports early.

Liz whistled at that information. "When I was in line, I heard the higher ups in the guild were super happy about that. A full day's head start on the Republic means more first delves, which means better loot. Damn, we need to take advantage of that. Gotta see if we can get out ahead of the second wave."

That made Matt smile. Liz clearly intended to keep their collaboration up. He was going to suggest it after they split the profits of their loot, but it was good to already know her mind was on the same track.

'Hard to say. Itd be a lot though. Maybe a few Tier 20 mana stones. While it is a Tier 4 item, it's useful for everyone up until the 30's. Even then, it's still useful for the swap ability, as it could get someone out of danger.'

Matt stared hard at the small and silvery interlocking bands that lay in his hand. They would be amazing to use, but he couldn't use them alone. That meant the best option was to sell them, and buy a skill or two to round out his repertoire.

The more he marinated on the thought, the more he hated that option. Skills were nice, and the right ones would last him a lifetime, but this was a chance at something different. Something unique.

All the best delvers had special advantages that they leveraged into greatness. Whether it be their Talents, or a lucky skill, they made it big with whatever opportunities they were presented with. They didn't sell their advantages. They took what they found, and pressed it for every bit of advancement they could.

Another part of him whispered that at the same time, he also had no idea of the number of delvers that took the same risk and paid for it. More often than not, leaps of faith lead to early deaths, instead of long, prosperous lives.

Maybe he was misguided by arrogance from his prowess with [Cracked Phantom Armor], but he felt like this was a risk he was able to take.

He looked to the blood mage leaning against the wall. She had helped him, even when she had no stake in these rings. She could have let him sell them for far less than they were worth.

He thought through their last week of interactions, and all about how they were able to fight and laugh together. They made a good team.

Matt knew the logical choice wasn't the right one. The safe bet was to sell the skill, and get a high Tiered, channeling attack spell but...

Matt made his decision.

He held the bound rings out to Elizabeth.

She looked honestly shocked when the second ring was dangled in front of her.

'This is too much. I really can't take it.'

Matt had already thought of that, so he sent the message his AI had prepared.

A moment later, she grasped the growth item offered to her, and when they each pushed essence into their interlocking rings, they separated.

The pair both put on their newly bonded rings. Pushing his sense into the ring, Matt had a faint impression of where its twin was located on Liz's finger. Before he could get lost in exploring the connection, he received the message confirming that Elizabeth Moore had accepted his invitation to form a permanent party.

"Welp." Liz seemed stunned, "I guess that means were in it for the long hall. Hitched together like a horse and a wagon going off a cliff."

Matt wasn't sure he liked that expression. It was very morbid.

Then she smiled. "Oh! Now I get to see what your Talent actually is."

There was a pause, and she cocked her head as she looked at him.

"That's absurd. At that rate, you'll make..." Her eyes flicked back and forth. "Way too much mana. You realize you'll have more mana at the one percent mark than most mages have after Tier 25, right?. And once you get to Tier 12 or 13, you'll be able to transition to a full mage build..."

She trailed off, contemplated him with an exaggerated glare and said, "I'd like to file a complaint with the heavens."

"And your skill. How do you have that? Did your sponsors suck off the Emperor? That is not a low Tiered skill. What?"

Matt had to re-explain the situation at Benny's, and Liz just shook her head at his story. "Yeah, they were dumb to think it was a useless skill. Even a normal mage could use it for a few minutes. Even if it wasn't a core skill, and a little less efficient. But damn, it synergizes well with your Talent."

Matt examined her profile, while smiling at her continued threats to lock him in a box and sell him as an unlimited mana source.

Name: Elizabeth Moore.

Age: 17.

Bloodline: Phoenix. Grade: High. Purity: High.

Tier 1 Talent: All skills brought into the Core Spirit or Inner Spirit gain blood aspect.

Tier 3 Talent: One with blood. Grows with Tier.

Skills: [Blood Manipulation].

The world was truly unfair. She had said her mother was a Flame Sparrow. Bloodline of the Phoenix, what bullshit was that? And it was both high grade and high purity, which meant it gave even more advantages. Though he didn't know what the phoenix bloodline gave on base, as a peak fire creature, it was guaranteed to be strong.

He sent Liz his best glare. She didn't even have the decency to look sheepish.

"You say I'm broken?" he hissed. That only served to enlarge her grin. "And what about your mother being a Flame Sparrow? I remember that being explicitly stated. My AI noted it down."

"I said she was a Flame Sparrow, if you assumed I meant she evolved to only have a human form, that's on you."

Matt wanted to pull out his hair.

"Just how strong are your parents? I had assumed around Tier 20. But now I don't know."

"Does it matter? I'd rather not say. It has nothing to do with me. I'm on The Path to escape that exact situation. People just assume Im nothing more than my parents' Tier."

There was heat in her voice, and it brought Matt up short. After thinking it over, he understood. He wouldn't want to have every accomplishment credited to someone else, just because they gave birth to you.

That didn't mean he wouldn't give her shit about it.

"Ok, miss double high."

That got a blush out of her. "Well, ok. That has its advantages, and is from them. But I didn't ask for it!"

"What does the second one actually mean?" Matt wanted to be vague out loud, but Liz understood what he was asking, and sent him a message explaining.

'My Tier 3 lowers the mana cost of all blood skills and makes them easier to cast and control. It's not much right now, only a few percent, but it helps. And its also like a crappy version of [Regeneration]. I heal slowly from pretty much anything that doesn't kill me. It's just really slow. So slow it's useless at this Tier.'

'It's also the reason I can absorb other people's blood. It changes to my blood type, which is easier to manipulate.'

Matt ran his hand over his face. He thought Melinda had the most absurd combination of Talents, but maybe Liz might beat her out.

'What about the skill?'

'Oh, that was a gift from my sponsor. It was originally [Water Manipulation]'

Matt peeked through his hand at the smug blood user sitting against the wall. His head hurt.

He decided to change the topic. "So what do you want to trade the [Puddle Jumper] for?"

Liz sat up, and spilled the napping Aster out of her lap, inciting some yips of annoyance.

"I want [Create Water]. It's a fairly cheap skill that should show up here. Not too many people take it, as a canteen can nearly do the same. Only water mages, or me."

Matt understood what her idea was, and was impressed. It was similar to what he was doing. Take a skill most overlooked or couldn't use, but change the paradigm, and make it strong.

[Create Water] would become [Create Blood] with her Talent, and would cover her weakness of needing to slowly siphon blood from her enemies.

"Think we can get both for one [Puddle Jumper]?"

Liz was laying on her back, half-heartedly trying to grab Aster, who kept just out of reach. "Probably. The skill exchange takes place after the auction, so we'll have some mana stones to cover the difference, if needed. It's a near-flight skill so..."

They lazily watched movies while Matt fed the crystal half a million mana.

Liz could have left and done the shopping she needed to do but stayed.

There was a closeness growing between them that forming a party had only solidified. This wasn't a temporary team-up, but a near-permanent one. A leap of faith into a budding comradery.

Matt could feel it in the air, and it felt nice.

Warm.

Comfortable.