Chapter 83

Chapter 83

Ash stood panting, staring at the pool of blood the man had left behind. This was why direct combat should be avoided; ambush tactics were so much more refined. Ashs Tier 1 talent granted [Water Manipulation] and [Darkness Manipulation] as well as changing any skills absorbed, re-aspecting into one of the two skills affinities.

The kit of skills so amassed were, as a result, always used to fight in the shadows and strike from behind. This made them much better at assassinations than anything else. It was why Ash was teamed up with Thayden for this little war after all; to deal with hard-to-hit targets.

Why the two of them were sent to take back a fort in the middle of a siege was a mystery. They worked better as a strike unit, used for infiltration ahead of the main assault, focused on taking out a leader or sabotaging gear and defenses.

Attacking head-on was stupid, but they had their orders, and had to comply if they wanted to be rewarded by the Empire war AI. Purely suicidal missions werent permissible, but apparently, kill that monstrous team wasn't enough to be considered suicide.

Ash didnt consider it suicidal either, until they had all nearly died. Thayden had a brilliant idea of going through the window by mixing their abilities with shadows to let the man turn intangible.

Sadly the attack hadn't worked completely, and Thayden was dead. On top of that, the attacking force was down to twenty-odd fighters.

Still, they had won, and the reward for taking a medium fort would be hefty.

But killing the final armored man was a task that they weren't sure was even worth it. The man had fought like a monster in human flesh. Or perhaps more accurately, in impenetrable skill armor. Archers were unable to get a good enough shot to kill the man because of the tight space, and the melee fighters were utterly dismantled as they came into reach of the man's blade. Still, they were ordered to capture the fort, so they had, despite the cost.

Even so, Ash had to burn a Tier 7 mana stone to charge their fast converting mana stone. The stone was an ace in the hole for emergencies, one recommended by their sponsor. It could convert mana near-instantly, but the efficiency was awful. 400 mana invested had yielded in less than 30, but they had figured that it would be enough to restrain the armored man and finish the fight.

They had never expected that the Kingdom fighter would blow off their own leg after being hoisted off the ground. Ash didn't even know that it was possible to disrupt a water and shadow skill like that.

Ash had only survived because a random Queendom guard had jumped in the way of the armored man's last lunge. Ash hadn't been sure they had defeated the man until he was teleported out. And that was only after everyone stabbed the man in the back. Repeatedly.

Screams disrupted Ashs musings, and through the window they saw a stream of Kingdom colored troops fighting the encirclement group outside of the fort with a second group of at least twenty entering the building. Before the Queendom defenders outside could do anything useful like group up, they were quickly subdued in small packs. Unable to use their near equal numbers to good effect.

Everyone still alive on Ashs floor simply dropped their weapons, too tired to put up any sort of fight, as a smiling woman with dull brown hair entered the room. She had a rainbow-colored parasol spinning behind her. Her cheer seemed out of place with the blood and gore splattered around.

Her armored dress was a fashion statement that Ash had never seen before, and looked as impractical as it was flashy. Apart from her dress, she was as plain as could be.

The woman surveyed the Queendom fighters and spoke with a clear, bell-like voice, Felix dear, please dispatch these ones. Thank you.

One of the Tier 6 melee fighters who had survived spat at the woman's feet, saying, "Fuck y ."

Before he could finish, the woman in command turned around and viciously kicked him in the face. Blood from the mans nose arced through the air, splattering the other captives in the face. The woman's dress had hidden it, but she wore practical combat boots under all the finery. That must have hurt.

Now there, Ill have none of that. she said with a gentle smile on her face. She looked down and saw the blood that had landed on her dress, As if this day couldnt get any worse.

Looking at the Queendom fighters she continued with a sigh, Honestly, I expected better from the best and the brightest the Empire had to offer. I guess all that glitters is not gold. Well, I thank you for your efforts, substandard as they were. With that final statement she closed the parasol with a snap, placed the tip on the mans forehead, and pushed it back. With a brief flash of blood and light the man disappeared.

Now, I must be off. Im sure poor little Albie will want to have some words with me and it's best if I can make some plans before that happens. The woman spun away while waving her hand at the rest of them in obvious dismissal.

Ash looked at the hulking man behind the woman as he gently touched a sword to Ashs chest and they were gone. The last thing they heard was the snap of a parasol.

***

Luna watched the show that her little Pathers put on. She was impressed.

Other managers were more or less hands-on than her, depending on their ideals, but her approach was always to stay in the shadows until she thoroughly understood her subjects. No two teams were the same. She had learned that lesson millennia ago.

She watched. She evaluated. She planned.

Once all that was done, she made suggestions on essentially everything for the children placed under her care. In her early years shed had plenty of teams that wouldnt follow her advice, and would simply leave most of the time. It was where she learned to be selective and more stringent with her team choices.

But some teams could take it, and she would push harder and harder until she squeezed every ounce of potential out of them.

It was so rare for her to find the true gems these days. It was the reason she had stopped taking children under her paw.

For all she had watched, Luna had to admit. She was impressed.

The three were strong, and had fought well for being unaware of the treachery at play. Combat between intelligent combatants was always a shock to people only used to rift delving.

They were falling prey to the normal machinations that these little wars brought out. She had watched these skirmishes time and time again. More often than not, betrayals like the one the little Rainbow Peacock Alyssa was cooking up were a middle-level commanders' first moves.

The girl thought she was clever for her ploy when it had been done millions of times before her. It had already happened five times on this very planet, and was currently happening on another three battlefields.

She made a note to watch out for Alyssa and Lizs first meeting. It would be the first time she would meet someone with a purer bloodline than her, outside of her parent's protection. Not many could claim that, but there certainly were a few out there. High-purity, high existence, like dragons and phoenixes, cultivators born of dual beast parents were rare, but they existed.

Luna's senses easily stretched across the entire planet, so she could see everything going on in this... game.

Would Liz back down? Or stand and fight? Could Liz handle not being the best at something as intrinsic as bloodline purity?

Her claws tried to stretch out of her humanoid fingers as she thought of the coming drama.

What direction would the young Pathers take with the ill-treatment of the two vassal states?

Her favorite was when the Pathers created a third faction and started wreaking havoc. It was always so very fun to watch those wars unfold. Sadly, she doubted that would be the outcome this time. Both of the royal brats were taking steps to prevent that exact scenario, but Luna could hope.

She sent a message through her hated AI to April and Kurt. She had both of them getting the various materials and training facilities ready. Or, in Kurt's case, tracking down the people Luna felt could best train the trio. Her mute protege was making a list of where they were, and the best order to have the children visit them in.

Luna had to resist forming a tail to swish as she thought of the kids' faces when the prices of those facilities were revealed to them.

When she was a young liaison, she thought it was dumb to make the Pather kids with management teams pay for everything they were to use. But after a time, she came to understand.

The resources at her and her fellow managers disposal could turn a turd into a diamond if given the proper guiding hand. Competent strength was expected of anyone able to successfully complete their training. Success in the challenges they would face while on The Path would hardly be impressive if everything was given to them.

The real monsters came out when the added incentives a management team could provide were acted upon. They drove the children harder and helped to advance faster. It pulled the best out of them.

She had one young woman who slept outside to save on even that little expense. Annabelle had done well for herself and already ascended. She hadn't completed The Path, but she had gotten close and gone on to make a name for herself in the exploration communities.

One of Lunas earliest works. One of her best.

She was already calculating cost to account for Matts Talent, but it would just inflate prices. It wouldnt change the relative timeline that they were expected to maintain. Keep them mostly inline with the other Pathers. The help was meant to be earned with effort. Even with her increasing the price they would be paying less than it would normally cost to hire Tier 25's or higher for personal training. The Empire gave tax breaks for those who helped Path teams after all. That was worth far more than the paltry sum the teams paid.

Lunas major restrictions were items and skills. She couldn't give them either. They had to earn those themselves.

It shouldn't be a problem with Matts abilities, but their earning potential was greatly lessened with them now being Tier 6. She would recommend that they sell full Tier 5 rifts to a few select guilds for first dibs on growth items once they hit Tier 10 or 15.

She wasn't sure which. It would depend on them.

Luna floated around the fort for another moment, rewatching the battle from memory.

Watching Liz shred thirteen people on the bottom floor had been a special treat. A well-laid trap was always a joy to watch. The damage her little blood mage had put out was well beyond her Tier.

It was also the first time she had been forced to help the army personnel assigned to the battle. They were overwhelmed by the sheer number of casualties her team had inflicted. Lizs slaughter of over a dozen people at once was more than they could handle. A Tier 15 could handle at most two people and with the rate her team had been killing people...

If Luna hadnt stepped in, someone could have actually died.

The blender of blood wasn't a bad trap at all, and Liz used it to... decent effect.

She made a note to remind Liz that she couldve ensnared fourteen people with a little more patience. Letting the first person come up the stairs wouldve allowed two more to enter the bottom floor. After killing everyone on the first floor, she could have easily handled the remaining person from the higher steps.

Her plan hadnt been bad, but it wasnt perfect either. Little Liz had room to grow, but Luna could see the gem waiting to be polished up. She just needed time, and a little pressure.

Matt had surprised her. She hadn't expected him to tell his team about his Concept, while still hiding his Talent. It was a surprising move, from what she had seen of him so far.

She made a note that he was more devious than her first impressions had indicated. It was good. She hated the blockhead melee fighter stereotype that too many let themselves fall into.

After watching him savage nearly thirty people on the third floor, she was afraid that might be the case.

He had failed to use his [Hail] skill as she expected. He could have used it to fill an entire room with ice, and effectively block it off. Or he couldve used the skill during his melee, when he was forced back into a wall.

Either use could have been explained away by the reveal of his Concept. He already said that it mostly affected himself.

She sent another note to Kurt to find a few spy specialists. They could be useful for all three, but getting Matt to use a bit more lateral thinking would be their top priority. His mana situation gave him too much variety and that could be a problem in the future if he didnt learn to use more than a handful of spells.

Aster got most of Lunas praise today, though. The fox had used her growing intuition and intelligence to protect the mage, Emily. And she took out the little wanna-be hive mind, Nael. Without a fire spell, he would have taken them all out in a few minutes, while the damage they inflicted failed to stop his regeneration.

She hoped that Liz could fight the young man in the future, since he was a good counter to her. Blood counted as biological material, and he would simply absorb all of her attacks.

But no. Aster noticed what everyone else had missed, and froze the whole room. It was clever. The fox acted so quickly, Matt didnt even notice the oddity of the Pather that he was fighting.

They each needed help and guidance, but they had potential. Oh, so much potential.

Seeing the carnage, she made a note to monitor their mental states after this. This was the first time any of them had taken heavy wounds, and they would have died if not for the armys intervention. She had a few experts that she could call if they seemed to slip into some kind of depression. Harvest Moon would be her last resort, but he knew his way around the mind.

If things got bad enough, the army would step in, but he had a few plans. One was increasing the Kingdom-side payments for jobs correctly done. If he matched the Empire's contributions, it would incentivize people to think tactically, not personally.

He could also publicly punish people for screwing over their allies for personal gain.

He could even increase the points earned for holding forts. He was sure that he could get a few Pather teams to stand guard with that.

The problem was spending the points. It would help resolve problems, sure. But he still needed to make sure that he didn't allow the Queendom to get ahead in points, solely for strategic level spending. A few upgraded forts could go a long way into fortifying their position on the planet and making it nearly impossible to win the war.

But if he warned her of his intentions, he could force her hand into doing the same, if only so he didn't look like a better side. If they both did it together, it would ensure that they lost a near equal number of points.

With a sigh, he started a video call with Sara.

***

Matts vision went from the stone floor to a blinding light.

He tried to reach up to block the light, but invisible bands of force resisted his movement.

Youre okay, son. Just lay there while we heal you.

Matt checked his AI to make sure that his teammates were ok. Specifically Liz and Aster.

His fox bond was currently moving in circles, but Liz was still. Since he didn't have a map of the area, he could only guess at her situation, but her AI showed that she was alive and being healed.

A second check showed all his teammates were being healed or were already healed. Annie and Emily were together already.

Matt twitched as he felt something in his back start itching. As it turned to tickling, he started to struggle against his restraints.

Try not to move.

In between gaps for air, Matt got out, It tickles.

Oh, sorry.

The ticking stopped, and he was back to just the weird itching. Sorry about that. Happens to a select few people. Gotta change my methodology.

How bad is it?

The healer was looking at Matt's stomach, but even with the mask on, he saw their eyes wrinkle.

Bad enough I'm questioning the judgment of the Army personnel. You are fucked up, kid. You have nearly no meat left on your leg. Not to mention half a dozen stab wounds.

Matt was kind of surprised. He hurt badly enough, but he didn't think it was that bad.

I think they let me finish beating someone to death first?

He lilted it off in a question. He wasn't really sure.

Are you the armored fellow? Had more than a few people cursing you and your family line for a dozen generations.

A burning sensation started to crawl through Matt's stomach, but after a moment, he got it under control and answered, Maybe. We got pinned in a fort we had just taken, and then had to fight our way deeper. Finally, they took us out.

The healer just nodded. Yeah, you're not the first team to have that happen to. Apparently, its a pretty common event at the start of training wars.

What felt like a bubble was filled in his guts, and a loud fart was inadvertently released.

Matt would have been embarrassed, except the healer nodded and said, Ok. Stitched up your intestines.

He looked at Matt and asked, How ya feeling?

Not that bad. It just itches and feels like hot waters moving around in there.

The man nodded. Good. Good. The pain blocker is working. How are you mentally about your death?

Matt shrugged. It wasn't a real death. More angry than anything else.

Oh?

Noticing that the man wanted more, Matt half changed the subject. On a completely unrelated note to being left out to dry, what's the worst thing to deal with while healing? Maybe a particularly painful thing to break?

The healer laughed. I'm not going to help you get revenge. I'm worried about your mental state. A lot of people don't handle knowing they would have died without the intervention very well. It can be a pretty heavy moment when youre forced to recognize your mortality.

Matt thought about it, while what felt like bugs crawled down his right leg. There was a pop that sounded like a tree branch being snapped apart, but he barely felt a thing.

I think I came to the realization that I could die a long time ago.

At the single raised eyebrow, Matt continued. My planet and city had a lot of rift breaks, and a lot of people died. I knew a long time ago that I only lived because I got lucky. Today, I got unlucky. It might happen again. Fighting people is a lot harder than fighting rift monsters. The skills...

Matt trailed off. The fighting had been more than a spar or anything else. Even the battle at the hidden base. No, this was brutal and primal.

He made a move, but his opponents made a move to counter him at every turn. He had to be stronger, faster, and smarter. All things he hadn't been at the fort.

Matt felt a burning desire to not only beat their reinforcements leader's ass, but prove to everyone that they had only died because they were unprepared. If he had known

He forced that line of thinking down. He should have been prepared and expected... well, everything.

If this was a real war, he would have actually died, and not woken up in a healer's room. Matt needed this experience against people with skills and tactics.

Being forced on the defensive was hard. He had tried to make plans, but the enemy commander had been a step ahead the whole time. He had felt clever when taking the fort, but now understood how the defenders had felt. He was outmaneuvered, and unable to plan for the enemys strategy. Even the things they had planned for didnt turn out as well as they could have.

It was a good learning experience.

Matt finished with that, and the healer let it drop. He started telling tales about his younger days.

He was thinking about how much harder it was dealing with thinking people when one of the stories caught Matt's attention was the story about how he tried to heal a femur. The man in question was in so much pain, the healer needed to sedate them to heal the bone. Apparently, it was the worst bone to break, with pain levels not seen anywhere else in the body.

Matt started planning on how to break both of someone's femurs at once.

He had to smile at the healers' roundabout way of helping him get a little revenge.

Before he knew it, he was guided up as the bed bent forward.

Back to rights. Youre out of all combat for two weeks. The unnamed healer pulled down his mask and met Matt's eyes with his own. I'm serious. No fighting at all. If you need to be healed again, your body might not be able to handle it. The mana cost was already increasing towards the end. Whatever you did to your body is making you stronger, yes but harder to heal. Give me your word.

A petty part of Matt wanted to say that his friend could fix the healing downtime with a single spell, but he took the healers' good intentions as they were meant. No one else knew of Melindas Talent, and even if he did get healed by her, it wouldn't get him into the field sooner.

He did make a note to get her to heal at least Liz and Aster, though. Just in case there was a lingering problem. It was also good to know that his near perfect body was making it harder to heal. That was a side effect he hadn't thought about.

I promise. Thank you for the patch-up.

Matt stuck out his hand and shook the healers. The man didn't let go until Matt added, And I won't get into a fight or anything until after the two-week healing cooldown.

The healer grinned, then let him go, saying, My assistant will guide you to a relaxation room. Take your time and let your mind wander for a bit. You need to spend at least an hour in there. Enjoy it. There are rabbits and all sorts of cute critters to cuddle.

Matt froze.

Did you say rabbits? And everyone had to be in there?

Yeah? The healer seemed confused.

Matt started to run to where his bond was still doing circles.

He could only imagine what his playful bond would do with a room full of traumatized people and cute fluffy animals.

Aster! Please don't be mutilating the support animals!

When he arrived, he found a forest meadow with goats, sheep, and rabbits bouncing around. It was full of people in white clothes matching the ones he was somehow wearing. What he didn't see was his bond, or any bloodshed.

After following his AI, he found Aster holding onto a rabbits tail with her teeth, while the plump bunny bounded around in circles. His bond was bouncing around behind said rabbit getting kicked in the head with each leap.

He would have been worried if his connection didn't show her having the time of her life finally with a rabbit who wasn't too weak to play.

Matt facepalmed.