Chapter 92

Chapter 92

When Matt and Liz finally got out of bed, they ambled over to the shower and lost themselves for another good while, enjoying each others company until their rumbling stomachs finally drove them into polite society.

Things felt new and fresh as they walked to run errands and pick up Aster from her sleepover in the recovery ward. Even the most mundane things felt brighter and more vibrant. Despite Liz stopping to get a hair elixir, and furiously scratching as her hair grew out nearly a foot, the morning was turning out to be enjoyable. The salon trimmed her hair back to its former length in short order, while Matt ducked out to collect his bond.

When he arrived at the hospital, a woman with slitted eyes, similar to the woman who had healed Matt the last time, was waiting for him. Their eye colors were substantially different, with this womans being purple instead of green, so he was pretty sure that this was someone else. She didn't look particularly unhappy, just stern.

Matt immediately became worried just thinking about how much his favorite fox loved to chew on her rabbits friends. He was right to be concerned, just for the wrong reasons.The initial posting of this chapter occurred via Ñøv€l-B!n.

Are you Matthew Alexander? The woman's tone wasn't necessarily unfriendly, but there was a tinge of something he couldn't place. Maybe disappointment.

Yes Is everything ok? Did Aster hurt one of the rabbits? I am so sorry if she did.

The woman sighed a little and seemed to relax at that, confusing Matt further.

She gestured backwards through the door and around a tree in the recovery area, where Aster was pouncing on a cluster of rabbits. The critters took an opportunity to scatter when one presented itself. Two even teasingly jumped on Aster before scampering off to reset the game.

The rabbits are fine. Id be impressed if she even could hurt them. I have concerns about Aster though. Shes very young, and everything Ive seen suggests that she needs far more socialization with people her own age. Both mentally and physically. Shes starved for that kind of companionship, friends on her own level. Her life needs to be more than just fighting.

Matt opened his mouth to protest, but caught himself as he watched her prance after the rabbits. She looked so thrilled to be there, so young. He felt a pang of guilt. Had he robbed her of a childhood like he had been?

Oh fuck. I I...

Matt ran his hands through his hair and his mind blanked out. He had no idea what to do. Aster was always ready to fight and seemed to love it, but she was always with him and Liz. Always.

The woman softened further. Take a deep breath. She's fine... mostly. Bonds from rifts tend to be more resilient than natural-born beasts. However, it's still critical to her long-term development for her to interact with people of her age. Its part of growing up. Honestly, I wish you hadnt given her the Fruit of Perfection. For all the benefits, shell be at a weird place developmentally compared to other beasts. Still, I understand that it was too good of an opportunity for you to pass up.

I was sure that it would be a good thing. That it would make her a full member of the team, you know? Not that she wasn't before, but she wasn't able to decide things for herself a lot of the time. If I left it up to her, she'd just eat ice cream all day. Did I hurt her?

The woman patted his shoulder, and he thought to bring up her profile with his AI.

Healer Kelsey, Tier 17. Empire-registered healer specializing in beast medicine and psychology.

It made sense that she was bringing this to his attention.

Kelsey said as she pulled him forward, Shes fine. I was worried that you saw her as nothing more than a tool to use in fighting. It's rare, but Ive seen it before, and with how quickly she's advanced... well I had concerns. Especially when I realized that she was faking mental trauma just for a chance to play with some other beasts without her bond around.

Matt opened his mouth to speak, but the woman continued before he could form a word.

Aster needs regular recreation time with people of similar mental and physical ages. Those two things normally work in lockstep, more or less. However, Asters mental and physical development are off-kilter due to the Fruit of Perfection. Thats going to make things trickier for her. Due to the fruits effect, shes mentally more comparable to other beasts in the Tier 10 to 11 range. Meanwhile, the beasts in her own Tier are the ones she best fit to play with physically, since higher Tiered beasts could accidentally hurt her too easily. It would need to be a higher Tier beast that specifically knows how to safely handle a youngster, like our rabbit volunteers. She can't safely wrestle a normal Tier 10 beast, but that's who shell best connect with emotionally and make friends with.

Matt felt the pit in his stomach continue to drop. Aster was like the little sister he never had. Realizing that he was failing her felt awful.

Healer Kelsey, what can I do? I didn't know this was a thing at all.

You just need to find other beasts, bonds or not, for her to interact with as you advance. Set up playdates and let her be the kid she is. Us beasts can grow up faster in some ways, but she still needs time with others who get her. Honestly, she's better than I expected, given her history. But still...

Kelsey looked at Matt with an unsaid, If you care, you'll make sure she gets what she needs.

Thinking about it, Aster was probably only doing so well because of Liz. That realization made Matt feel like a terrible person.

Do I need to do anything else? Or better yet, is there some reading I can do about this? Maybe a raise a bond for dummies who got far too lucky at Tier 1?

Kelsey looked at him and patted his arm again. Relax. I'm grateful that youre taking this seriously, but this isn't a massive problem. Yet. Just get her a friend or two. Find the others with bonds around here, both on The Path or from the vassals. There are several groups that meet up for their bonds to socialize.

Matt brought them up with his AI, noticing that one was meeting tomorrow and in the Tier 6 range. He signed them up immediately.

Otherwise, Aster is a very healthy fox who was even willing to let a few people in need cuddle her up. They didn't realize that she was in here for treatment as well. It speaks volumes of her character, and yours as well. The older healer sighed. Its not often, but some people only see us as tools to be used. She didn't glare at Matt, but it was a near thing as she said, Don't be one of them.

Matt normally wouldn't explain himself to a stranger, but the woman seemed to be worrying for Aster's best interest, so he answered in kind.

Shes like the little sister I never had. I grew up without my own parents, so I get it. I don't really think of myself as Aster's parent but as an older brother who needs to help her until she can take care of herself. Like how the orphanage brought us up. It was the best they could do. But I don't want her to lack anything she needs. He sighed as his bond nosedived a pile of bunnies, who scattered like leaves in the wind.

So, thank you for bringing this to my attention.

Kelsey turned to him and proffered her hand. If you have more questions or concerns, message me. I'm happy to help.

Matt nodded, but was again cut off as Aster finally noticed his presence through their connection. She barreled into his arms and started recounting all the adventures shed had with the bunnies.

With the guilt still eating at his gut, Matt gave the Healer a quick wave and nodded along.

***

Liz was tired of paperwork. She was tired of people complaining to her.

Most of all, she was tired of Talous trying to hit on her. She needed to work with him, as he was the leader of the Queendoms Pathers, but the man would not take the increasingly blunt hints she kept dropping about dating Matt.

Such comments were simply brushed off with some blithe response, and he would immediately compliment either her work ethic or her battlefield persona.

She was one more comment away from snapping at him, but she tamped it down. After all, she was a representative of all the Pathers on her side. If communication broke down between the Pathers on both sides, they would lose a lot of their leveraging power. Negotiations were currently in progress, and they couldn't afford to be disunited.

Talous had rushed at the opportunity to sit next to her, Over the course of the meeting, he had inched his chair closer and closer, until their arms brushed. She was one more scooch away from picking him up while still in his chair, and tossing him away with her blood.

Albert sat on the other side of the table with a majority of the people in his retinue surrounding him. We don't like how people are surrendering. Specifically, the Pathers. We put a stop to it within our own troops, but I want to enforce a two-week ban on anyone who just gives up.

Liz repeated her prepared speech. That only encourages fights to the death. I agree that ransoming them for half their points isn't the proper measure, but encouraging pointless death isn't a habit that anyone should be getting into.

Princess Sara glanced over to Liz. She had caught a flash of something, but it was too faint and gone too quickly for her to identify. Irritation was the most likely answer. Neither leader was pleased about Liz pushing back on this so much. Talous was urging her to accept their demands, but Liz adamantly disagreed.

While she hardly wanted to encourage surrendering at the first sign of danger, fighting to the death at every turn was just stupid. The stipulations that the vassal states had added to the rules made retreating without orders to do so count the same as a surrender. No exceptions. That was the main point she was fighting against.

Capture wasn't unheard of in real Tier 15 or higher wars. Ransoms and such were common enough, and were easy ways to siphon wealth and resources from the enemy without bloodshed. Wars rarely devolved into outright slaughters where surrender wasn't accepted. Trying to keep the fighting somewhat civilized was the reason for rules of war in the first place. Even the Tier 40s refrained from killing everyone and being done with it.

Never accepting surrender was a step backward, in her opinion.

Another bad thing. I had to make an open-ended deal with Alyssa to help her once in the future. But in return she's going to sow discontent with the crafters and lower-level Pathers by spreading all the bad ideas that Talous was spewing today. Hell lose a lot of support with that, and Princess Sara will be forced to either replace him, or let a dangerous element grow inside of her forces. Either one is a win for us.

Matt, wanting to lighten the mood, suggested, We could always punch him. It might not help, but it would probably make you feel better.

Liz paused, then laughed so hard it woke Aster up. She questioned, Who? What? Then seeing no one, put on her best pleading face and asked, Get ice cream?

Still laughing, Liz scratched Aster and said, Sure, let's get some for after dinner. But that's funny. I've been thinking about beating his ass all day. He's strong, but hes a melee fighter focusing on attack. I'm pretty sure I could take him. She smiled up at Matt. We think alike.

After that, they kept things simple and light, just enjoying their time together.

***

Their two weeks of forced downtime were busy after being checked over by Melinda, who gave them all a clean bill of health, along with a little overhealth to secretly remove the healing cooldown.

Not letting the time go to waste, their team trained as hard as they were allowed. They started with Concept-focused, minimal contact sparring. As they came off their healing cooldowns more, they ramped up to more practical sparring.

To everyone's surprise, Conor was the first to get his phrase, Reflection. It wasn't the word that surprised anyone, just the fact he found it out of nowhere, during a break from being battered down by Matt and Aster's Concepts. The phrase gave him a bit more reflected damage to his opponents, while still taking none of his own.

That synergized lethally well with his new skill, [Parry], which let him deflect an attack's physical force back at an opponent, if timed correctly. Making him even more deadly was his second purchase, [Blade Arena], an expensive Tier 14 skill that made it so anyone wielding a bladed or sharp weapon took reflected damage whenever it moved. It made the man a true monster to face. Even Matt struggled with the barrage of attacks, though Conor quickly ran out of mana if he used both of his AOE skills simultaneously.

Conors success gave Annie and Emily a kick in the butt that Matt wasn't sure was entirely good. They both redoubled their efforts, saying that if he got it, they should be able to get it as well. Emily was in a slightly better position, as she had touched upon something. But Annie was still in the dark, which wasn't helping her mood.

She spent all of her free time either meditating or training. A whopping 50,000 of her points went to hiring an Army stealth specialist to train her in assassination, counter-assassination, and espionage. Annie returned to their suite with a variety of bruises most days, but she seemed to be enjoying it.

Even with that as a springboard, she found nothing to resonate with, which only seemed to piss her off more and more.

Emily banked most of her points after paying everyone back, stating that she was saving for something. Rather than tell them what, she just smiled wickedly, telling them to wait and see. Matt did notice that she bought [Earth Spike], but figured it was just to increase her combo of chaining mana types. Her firepower was already scary with four aspect types. He worried that she'd actually kill someone with five if it got twice as strong. But during their sparring, he found that while the fifth hit was notably stronger, it wasnt exactly double the strength of the fourth spell.

After seeing his teammates spend some points, Matt wanted to buy the [Cracked Breach] skill all the more. But even if his team loaned him their remaining points, it still wouldn't be enough. Not that he had the courage to ask that in the first place. They all had items they were saving up for, and he couldn't ask them to put their own growth aside for his own.

It would be selfish and unfair for a skill he wouldnt even be able to cast in this war. [Cracked Breach] had an initial cast cost of 100 mana, which was 20 mana more than his current maximum. Ascending to Tier 7 was the only way to be able to cast it, and only Tier 5 and 6 Pathers were allowed here. He couldn't ask for help buying something that wouldnt help any of them get more points.

He was debating getting [Flamethrower] for 50,000 points instead. The Tier 14 skills were incredibly expensive, but Matt figured that the average Pather would be able to afford one if they saved all their points throughout the war. A channeled spell like that was perfect for Matt, but the price was prohibitive.

He also wasn't sure if he wanted to spend the points on [Flamethrower] when he also wanted the enchanting repository. But that also cost half a million points, and he wasn't sure that he could feasibly get both the repository and [Cracked Breach]. The only positive was that the repository could be purchased by any number of people, so he could try saving for the more expensive item, and then get the repository if he fell short.

Missions were on the horizon again, and that was his path to earning the vast amount of points needed. Things like the Kingdom paying for his mana, and their slowly decreasing stipend padded his total, but wouldnt take him the distance. A part of him looked forward to the assassins coming. With Annie's help, they might just have a passive form of income via counter-assassination. Cashing in the points on an extra attack skill now might help him earn more points in the long run. And [Flamethrower] suited him perfectly. Over and over again, it all came back to points.

Liz kicked his leg. What are you thinking about?

He sighed and said, I don't know what to do about our points. We have three days left till we come off the healing cooldown, and we have so many points on the line. Were good, but everyone is going to be gunning for our bounty, and then theres the tactical advantage of killing us. It's incredibly risky to hold this many points for the more expensive items. But not saving now might cost me [Cracked Breach] later. I want [Flamethrower], but is it worth getting it now for the added damage it will give me? The skill is also strong and could mean the difference between life and death. I'll lose a lot more than fifty thousand points if we die now.

Aster hopped up and headbutted his chest. Noooo! Fire is bad. One fire, enough.

Matt reached for her, but his bond flopped over and rolled out her tongue, sending pretend dead thoughts at him though their link.

Liz started rubbing her belly which caused a tail wag while she still pretended to have been betrayed by his propensity for fire spells.

Aster, you realize that you have more than enough points to get a new ice spell on your own, right?

Still with her eyes closed she responded, Yes. I got one. She then sent him a mental projection of the skill she got. He was half afraid that it would be [Create Ice Cream] or something like that. But luckily, it wasn't. It was actually [Ice Pillars], which created a small area around the caster where pillars of ice rose up to create some cover and concealment.

I got fly! He received a mental image of a flying fluffy cloud that acted like a Tier 7 flying device. That was actually a good purchase, so he sent proud thoughts to her. He ignored the fact that she got it because it looked like ice cream.

Her next purchase was less impressive. I got. Ice cream maker! A picture of a little box that created ice cream out of milk and mana came to him.

Matt rubbed his face, that was exactly what he expected her to spend points on.

Anything else?

Aster seemed to think it over, then nodded upside down. Training. With Ice Wolf!

Matt made a note to get her a little storage item that she could wear. But overall, he felt that she spent her points as well as he could have hoped for, and far better than hed feared. She was still a kid at heart.

With her settled, Liz turned to him and said, Get [Flamethrower]. It's a great fit for you, and it gives you a heavy hitting close range spell that you can just blast forever. Fifty thousand points is nothing to us right now. If you get it now, youll probably earn more points in the next year or two.

Matt knew she was right, but if he didn't get the [Cracked Breach] because of it, hed regret it forever.

Still undecided, he returned the question, What are you looking to get?

[Crystal Armor], I need some more defensive skills, and something to stop me from getting exploded by an arrow would be nice. Plus I'm optimistic that a crystal-based skill won't break from my Tier 1 Talent. At least, that's my hope. She considered Matt with an odd look and asked, Have you ever heard of the skill [Torch Sprite]?

Matt had not. Her expression piqued his curiosity though, so he immediately looked into it. [Torch Sprite] was a Tier 14 spell. It was both rare and expensive, not because it was strong, but because it was only found in a few known rifts. That, and no one farmed it because the skill was practically useless. For the cost of 100 mana, the caster summoned a single dim light sprite that floated around feeding on fire. When fed enough, it would multiply and gradually spread out. The sprites were actually fairly autonomous, and if left to their own devices, would seek out new sources of fire to feed on when it got too crowded around the original torch. The spell was great if you only had a torch and needed to light a large area over a period of time. However, the Tier 14 skill [Light Orb] could be cast for just 10 mana, was immediately effective, and would hover anywhere you wanted around you.

There just was no comparison in their usefulness. Even then, [Light Orb] was more expensive than a light-rune flashlight which could run for hours on a little mana. Some night time festivals and outdoor venues used [Torch Sprite] for the ambiance, but that was about it.

No if, and, or buts about it, [Torch Sprites] sucked. Except, Lizs Talent might change that. There was a possibility the skill would be shifted into creating an autonomous, self-multiplying, blood monster that sought out more blood sources to feed on. That was a pretty scary thought on a large battlefield. The skill could multiply nearly endlessly, just for the skills initial cost of mana.

It all depended on how her Talent changed the spell. For that potential reward, it was still worth a chance.

That would be interesting if it worked out the way I think it could.

Liz batted at his feet with her own. Yeah. It's a gamble, but I think it could pay off big time if we get into another fight like the last one. I just wish there was more information about how much control the caster had over the sprites. The description is light on details, but the festivals that use it seem to keep the sprites contained and evenly distributed within designated areas. Thats something at least.

Matt rolled back and forth in his chair. It sounds like youre going to roll the dice on it regardless. Me, I'm still not sure if [Flamethrower] is the right thing to buy. Or at least not right now.

Liz poked him with her toe. Just get it. You need the skill anyway, and the [Cracked Breach] isn't affordable. She lounged back and said, I'm ordering my skills, do the same so we can save someone a trip.

With a sigh, Matt decided to take the plunge.

As a box with their skills fell from mid air, she added, We can always earn more points.

That was true, Team Bucket just needed to get back into the field. He and his AI had a plan.