The Path of Ascension

Queen woke up with the taste of bile coating her tongue. Ciceron tried to help her up, but she drove her still-manifested great sword into the pillows to give her some leverage to stand up.

Embarrassingly enough, her sword wasn't strong enough to puncture the higher Tier material, but it was still enough to let her stand.

Her manifestation flickered and threatened to dissipate, but she dug deeper and forced it to remain stable.

The time dilation had put a massive strain on her mind and spirit, and her willpower was well drained from the decade of time spent in the Legacy.

As she stood up, she saw that the Legacy Obelisk still stood, but now with a deep gash carved straight through the center. A toothy smile split open under the mask.

Coming into this, her goal had been to shore up her greatest and most predictable weaknesses as a melee fighter: her limited ranged options. Within the length of her sword, her bladework reigned supreme against any challenge. Outside of that swing, her prized mastery and abilities were forced to give way to just [Mana Slash]. Skills like that bridged the literal gap, but they were extremely limited. She could weave [Mana Slash] and similar skills into her sword style, but they would only ever be isolated techniques, never a fundamental part of the greater whole.

But while flipping through the descriptions of the greatsword Legacies, Queen unearthed her answer in Dur'kurk. The man had solved that intrinsic issue by touching on a spatial Concept that saturated every aspect of his swordwork. So many of her lessers would waste this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity on gaining a single improved skill. That was like choosing a gold nugget as your prize over a gold mine. So instead, Queen dedicated her entire Legacy to only training, so she could learn something truly valuable from a high Tier. With that, she could lay the foundation for something far greater.

Dur'kurk understood her intention, and taught her a sophisticated and esoteric method to warp space around her blade using her Concept and willpower. Right now, it only gave her that little bit of extra reach, though the effects on her skills proved greater still. At a massive mana cost, she could double the range and striking speed of any long-distance blade skill, like [Mana Slash].

But this was only the beginning. With time and practice, she’d be capable of so much more. The possibilities filled her with cheer, though not as much as seeing the mark from her final parting gift.

Before she left, she had hurled her strongest spell out with every last drop of willpower she had left in her. That blow had cut a hole in the white room and knocked her out of the obelisk. It cheered her up to see visible damage on the actual object.

Dur'kurk reminded her too much of her deadbeat father, and after a decade of snide comments, she felt the need to vent.

Ciceron said something, but Queen was too exhausted to register the words properly. It wasn't until she was set down in a small kitchen, with a woman with red-feathered hair working behind the counter, that she came to slightly.

She thought to ask what was going on just as a bowl of soup slid in front of her. As the delicate aroma reached her nose, a cooling sensation washed over her spirit.

Well no point questioning how the Empire handles the aftercare of their Legacy holders.

She dug in and focused on settling herself. Soon, the bowl was polished clean.

When a mushroom risotto took its place in front of her, Queen paused. Then, she raised her eyes and took a much closer look at the woman behind the counter.

That was her favorite dish. Her real identity's favorite dish. Right down to the types of rice and wild mushroom used. No one here should have no idea what foods she really liked.

The woman flashed her a grin. "It seems I finally warranted your attention. Hello child. I'm Helen. Feel free to call me Aunt Helen. Most everyone does."

Susanne wrapped a free hand around her blade and readied herself for combat, no matter how futile it was. If she tried to cast a spell now, she would probably fall to pieces from the spiritual strain.

Regardless, she refused to go down without a fight.

Helen just kept smiling on while she mixed something. "I'm a chef, first and foremost. I take pride in knowing what people like to eat. But, as you suspect, I know more than just that about you. My condolences about your mother. What your father did to you three was inexcusable."

Realization struck and Susanne went cold as her worst fear came true. Her little brother was her greatest weakness. And he was also her responsibility after their father left their mortal mother, as she got too old and 'ugly'. The bastard had hidden the fact that he was a Tier 15 and immortal from them, right up until he shattered her mother's heart.

The poor woman never worked past the depression, heartbreak, and sense of betrayal. Rather than healing all wounds, time just seemed to make them fester. She held out long enough to reach her daughter’s awakening, but she eventually and unsurprisingly ended her own life not long after.

Her piece of shit father had only celebrated the fact he no longer needed to pay alimony. He literally held a celebration. The cost to throw it had probably been greater than the pittance he’d been paying her.

That was when Susanne knew the truth; the only one she could rely on was herself. Or perhaps more accurately, her sword. After hearing about her mother's death, one of her old friends working for the local Baron had managed to get her a slot in the PlayPen, where she earned herself a sponsor and a place on The Path of Ascension.

But this woman shouldn't know any of that. When she established her mask twenty years ago, she had discarded everything except a secure way to communicate with her brother, when he was in college.

Helen smiled, and while Queen felt no malice from her new personal attendant and chef, she lowered her guard ever so slightly while eyeing the room for an escape.

"I lost my own family a long time ago, so I can sympathize. But you have nothing to worry about from me. The Emperor asks me to come here and vet all the Legacy holders, as well as see if I can get a feeling for what their Tier 25 Talent will be. Feel free to decline if you so desire, but at least dig into the food. It will ensure that you can compete in the upcoming fights without a handicap."

Queen reluctantly sat down after her AI verified Helen's claim of being sent by the Emperor himself.

The mushroom risotto was the single best thing she had ever eaten. Better yet, with each bite she could feel her spirit strengthening.

When she finished, Helen pushed a banana split in front of her. Pineapple sauce replaced with caramel, just as she liked.

Helen just beamed at Susanne before sliding into the seat next to her.

"Do you want me to check your spirit? Find out what I can see?"

Susanne snarked, "You don't know already?"

Helen laughed lightly. "No, sadly. Even my information networks and Concept don't quite tell me that much. They just let on when and where I’m needed, but it's more of a feeling than a seeker like skill or Talent."

"So, how did you know about me?"

This all still felt too easy. Too convenient. This random woman just happened to know of her and Susanne wanted to see what answers the chef would offer. She would not blindly believe this woman, but her answers might still provide some valuable information.

Helen shocked her. "I have a sense for these things, and felt an odd desire to visit Grenad about the time you reached Tier 5. But at the same time, I didn't think you needed or wanted to have a conversation with a stranger back then. Now, you’ve grown up a bit, and it's time. You have the power of change in you, and it's a question of what you want to do with it. Are you a force of chaos, or peace? Will you uphold laws, or will you do whatever you feel like, whenever you feel like it?"

Queen might have thought the woman was threatening her if she didn't fall in line, but she read none of that on her face. Just idle curiosity.

Finally, the younger woman muttered, "Things aren't so black and white. People are gray, and each situation needs to be treated as the unique thing it is."

Her mind went to her mother. Her father hadn't wrapped his hands around her throat and killed her physically, but he had shattered her will to live, leading to the same result. She understood that he didn't commit murder, but the fact he couldn't be charged with anything was frustrating, even thirty years later.

Helen must have sensed that she was done with that topic and asked, "That aside, would you be willing to let me analyze your Talent?"

Susanne shrugged. Her real identity’s Talent was hardly a secret, and the woman already knew of that. Besides, learning what her next Talent was could be useful.

Digging into her spatially expanded backpack, she pulled out a decorative wooden case and opened it up to set up her workstation.

As she pulled out a feather pen and started working, she narrated her Tier 1 and Tier 3 Talents.

"My Tier 1 Talent gives me an instinctual understanding of writing and calligraphy, and extends to understanding how to use space on a page, along with some other, smaller things. My Tier 3 increases my proprioception and flexibility while writing." she paused for a moment before continuing, "Sadly, my Talent initially only worked on a feather quill made from the plume of a particular bird on Grenad."

She demonstrated that by picking up the quill in the left-most spot, and starting to draw a very elaborate, looping pattern that she turned into a nice margin decoration.

"For obvious reasons, I wasn't satisfied with my Talent only working for writing, and especially with only a very particular type of writing implement. So based on some advice I got at the PlayPen, I started to push my Talent."

She picked up a second feather quill and drew the next design. "It took me over a year to get my Talent to work on a quill using a different feather type, but eventually, I got it to grow and expand more and more until any quill would work."

Finished with that section, she picked up a fountain pen to make the third corner. A ballpoint pen had been her fourth step, before moving to an ink calligraphy brush. That small jump alone had taken her seven years of persistent work, but she had done it.

Currently, she was fighting with her Talent to accept a smaller, basic paint brush. Progress was glacially slow. Currently, her Talent would putter out after the first few strokes.

She looked into her carrying case and narrated her next steps. “After I get a painting brush to work, I wanted to try to make the next jump to a craft knife. The way you hold it is similar enough that I should be able to push it that far. Then I want to move to a dagger. If you think about it in just the right way, carving a block of wood with a blade is just another way of writing. Once I get that to work, I’ll work my way up to ‘writing’ with my greatsword. The boost I get will catapult me to the highest echelons of the strongest Pathers.”

Helen nodded along until she finished before saying, “Very impressive. I have a few recommendations, based on similar things I’ve seen people do in the past. First off, the leap from a tiny craft knife to a dagger will likely be very significant, and it will take you drastically more time to accomplish all at once. Personally, I’d add a paring knife in between the two, and apply it to fruit carving. There are entire libraries of books written on food presentation and what it communicates to the diner. I’d imagine that your Talent would take to that easier than anything else. Alternatively, it’s possible that your Talent might struggle less against a traditional quill knife. Since they’re used to make quill pens, that makes them more closely related to your Talent’s origin.”

Susanne nodded along, considering her words. That made sense, and while she didn’t want to hear that the jump to a blade would be that hard, she had expected nothing else. Especially with the way her Talent resisted new writing implements.

The phoenix continued, “Next, bridging the gap between writing and broader physical movements will come easier if you start building a strong conceptual foundation now. Start expanding your training into things like sign languages, interpretive dance, flag semaphore, and maybe even fire dancing. There are also some ceremonial and ritual weapon forms I’d strongly suggest researching, but they’re rather archaic, so it’ll be much harder to find good resources. Mention those to your management team when they meet you, they can help. My point being, every minute movement and position is meant to communicate a very specific meaning, which will likely help a great deal with the transition into swordplay. You’ll need it too, since your Talent will resist expansion even more stubbornly the further it stretches from its origin. Be warned, you may be forced to add more intermediary steps between the dagger and greatsword for the same reason.”

Helen’s suggestion sparked a rush of other ideas that she would need to look into too, but the chef just moved on. “Now, will you allow me to see if I can tell how your spirit is growing? That might give you a more precise idea about how to move forward.”

Queen’s interest was piqued at this point, so she let Helen lay her hand on her back.

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, she said, “Your spirit seems to be leaning to expand the idea of what your canvas is. Not what you can write with, but more so the paper you write on. How that will form, I don't know. But I’ve seen something nearly identical before, and the spirit formed the same loops and swirls as yours is starting to.”

Queen didn’t let that information crush her spirits. She had never banked on her Tier 25 Talent ‘fixing’ her Tier 1 Talent. She always knew that she was taking a path not traveled. There was no reason for her to expect anything else.

Helen seemed to try and soften the blow. “Don’t underestimate how useful that might be though. It might very well run parallel to your current efforts. Plus, you’ve already done fantastically on your own. It's beyond commendable. It's always staggering for me to see how people push themselves in the face of disappointment, desperate to achieve what they’re striving for against the odds. But allow me to offer a little assistance. When you reach my age, you learn a thing… or five. You even end up finding an item or twelve along the way.”

The feather-haired woman reached up and plucked one of the feathers from her head and brought out a vial of what looked like bottled star light.

With a quick flick, the tip of the feather sheared into a slotted edge for writing, which she lightly dipped into the vial before offering the feather quill to Queen.

Queen watched the orb of star light wobble at the tip, but it resisted gravity with what seemed like a herculean effort.

“What is it?” Queen couldn’t help but be suspicious of free items from a stranger.

Helen smiled. “Help. But if you want this, you will lose some of your rewards for the tournament. Are you ok with that?”

The cryptic one word answer didn’t help Queen in the slightest. The loss of rewards on top of the vague answer made Queen not entirely sure that the trade was worth it. Still, this woman was sent by the Emperor, after all. Who knew what she needed better than he?

In the end, she decided to roll the dice and reached for the feather.

When she touched it, she felt like her only-starting-to-recover spirit screamed as if it was lit aflame. Against her will, the feather seeped into her hand through her glove. She ripped her glove off to see that the feather had sunk into her flesh, and appeared like a tattoo.

Through gritted teeth, Queen demanded, “What did you do to me?”

Her greatsword was in her hand, and she flooded it with her will power, ready to strike, no matter how futile it was.

Helen just smiled. “A phoenix's feather dipped in Tier 19 nightmare unicorn tears. A nightmare unicorn is a rare and incredibly elusive animal that’s nearly impossible to find, even when delving a rift containing one a second time. They seem to flit through rifts, or so says the theory. But every part of their body, if properly harvested, has a million and one uses. However, all we care about right now are their tears, which in their raw form have a very special property. It’s a bit too convoluted to get into the specifics right now, but to grossly simplify, they briefly allow the spirit to become incredibly malleable. The catch is that the changes are ultimately temporary, and it’s undirected without a proper medium to appropriately channel it. Hence the feather quill to link it directly to your Talent.”

After that, Queen could hear the blood pumping through her head. It created a din in her mind as she imagined the possibilities that this would offer her.

It didn’t take a genius to put the pieces together, and realize what Helen’s feather and the unicorn tears had given her.

It was a gift that she didn’t know how to repay, or even if a gift of this magnitude was allowed while on The Path. The feather from a phoenix of at least Tier 15, as she had taken human form, would already be valuable enough to push the boundaries of the Path. But the woman in front of her had a veil so strong, Queen would never question that she was a Tier 5 if they passed on the street. Still, no one sent by the Emperor would be so weak, and anyone possessing an item she had never heard about from a monster out of legends wasn’t someone to take lightly.

Even so, as Queen looked down on her new tattoo, she wanted to tell Helen to take it back, but what came out was, “How many uses can I get out of it?”

“One. As is only proper. Do you really need a second chance? You never did before.”

Queen knew she could save the gift as some life saving item, but discarded the thought immediately. Once she understood the direction she needed to go, she could speed up her journey instead of fumbling around in the dark.

With a thought, she sent her will and after a moment of fumbling, a touch of essence into the tattoo on her hand. Once she did the fire reignited in her spirit.

In a single fluid motion, she picked up her sword, and for the first time in her life, she wrote with her blade.

The proprioception and flexibility boost was immediately noticeable, and threw off her normal gracefulness during the first attack pattern she tried. But by the second swing, her body was as in tune with her sword as it had always been. As it always would be.

She danced with her blade and wrote a story of anger and loss in the air with her sword filling the small kitchen with the pages of a novel as great as any other ever penned. Every twist of her hips carried the sword in a new direction, her shoulders tightening and guiding the bladed pen as it scrawled her soul into the air, but only for her to bear witness. Queen was free to do as she had always wanted to, and reveled in achieving what she had hoped to become.

It felt like decades later when she finally came to a stop as the effect ended.

She almost shed a tear to match the unicorn's at the feeling bleeding away from her and her bruised spirit, as what was once so easily malleable firmed back into the concrete it had been this morning.

But she was harder than that.

Today's novel experience would be tomorrow's mundane use of her Talent once she worked long enough.

The light that had illuminated her path forward had been almost extinguished, as the marking faded from her flesh before her very eyes, but she had seen the path forward once. And with that path forward emblazoned on her soul, she could walk forward confidently, now that she knew the proper direction.

Queen turned to Helen and nodded deeply. It wasn't quite a bow but as close as she had ever come to one.

“Thank you. I don't know how to repay you, but what you have shown me today…” She lifted her head and spoke clearly. “I will repay it as best I can.”

Helen waved her off. “I don’t do this for the favors I get in return. If you wish to give me nothing, so be it. This helps me as much as you, if not more. Each time I help raise someone up, I learn a little more of what family is.”

The feathered-haired woman shook her head and flicked a finger at the far wall, and a portal to her room opened.

“Sleep and rest, child. You’ll need it in the coming days.”

Queen walked through, but instead of falling into bed as her body craved, she turned on the shower, and fully clothed, sat under the scorching heat as she inspected her sword.

She needed to ensure that she had remembered everything she could about the way her Talent worked with her blade.

There was always more work to do, and the only things she could rely on were herself, and her blade.

Flaws weren’t allowed in either of them.

***

Matt stood and stretched in his seat at the auction house. They had arrived early, preparing to mingle with the other Pathers, but instead of being teleported to the auction house lobby, they had been directly teleported to a sealed room and instructed to wait until the start of the auction.

Neither of them knew what was going on, and they were powerless to do anything, so they sat around and ordered room service over and over again, almost out of boredom. After the fourth time, where they didn’t even see the staff deliver the food, they grew self conscious and stopped.

They had been sitting in their room for nearly an hour when the wall mounted screen flickered to life.

A woman with a flowering vine growing along her arm appeared. The vine traveled all the way up her torso and into her hair before culminating into a faux crown of flowers.

Her voice was sonorous as she welcomed them. “Good evening to all the Pathers here tonight, both combat and crafting professions alike. Today, we have an amazing event planned. I will be your illustrious host, Willow Morningsong. Before we begin the auction, Lady Tur'stal wanted to congratulate everyone on such an outstanding performance in the last six months. You have delved well and grown stronger, all while showcasing what the best and brightest of the Empire's younger generation can do. To that end, she tasked the crafters amongst us to create the best items they could; things that would impress not just the judges, but the entire Empire. The pickings were so good, the initial submission count of the top one hundred items to be auctioned was expanded to the top two hundred and fifty.”

Matt whistled, and Liz joined him.

They had seen the fervor and frantic effort that all the crafters had put into the three weeks they were given, but no one knew how well the crafters had performed. Everyone was secretive, and the participants only came out of their crafting rooms to pick up the materials that the combat Pathers had been selling.

Their real identities had made a little more than fifty points from the wyvern leather they had harvested from their group delves in the last few months. It was a prime material for any leather bits that were needed, from leather armor joints to grips on weapons.

Their masked identities even took on bounties that the crafters put out, hunting and retrieving materials from the wandering Tier 14 monsters that inhabited the various zones in the Jungle.

That had earned them over double the points of their real identities.

Individually, the crafters didn't have nearly as many points as the delvers who could earn them. They delved a rift, but there were so many of them teaming up or exchanging points for later services that they were able to pay fantastically for the items they wanted.

In the end, the points didn’t matter to them. Earning the recognition of one of the higher Tier guilds, corporations, or noble houses with their invention would earn them far, far more in the long run than the points themselves.

Willow coughed slightly into her hand, gathering Matt's, and he assumed everyone else's attention. “But that isn't the only change to this auction. We will be adding some of the more interesting items that have been submitted for auction by some of your combat-aligned professionals, along with a special treat as well.” She smiled, and a twinkle danced in her eyes as she added, “All of the royals have each placed an item up for auction. They are neither the most valuable or obviously useful, but they have stated that anyone who can identify one of them will not regret their purchase.”

The first item up for auction was a sword forged from what, to Matt’s mature eye, seemed to be a gold alloy.

“First up in an exciting item made by our very own crafters. Here is a Tier 13 sky gold standard, one-handed sword, forged with a deep rock anvil to create an incredibly flexible sword. It will be nearly impossible to break, as it has Tier 12 durability and repair runes, along with a sharpness rune.”

Matt nodded at the Tier 12 runes on the higher Tier sword. It was technically a waste, but the lower Tier runes meant that people wouldn't overburden themselves to cast the spells embedded in the weapon.

A smart move on the crafters' part.

The current bid started at five points before rapidly rising to twenty three, then paused long enough to start the five second countdown. A few more bids came in as the counter reached two, restarting the countdown.

The final bid reached thirty one points when the sword was finally sold.

Matt checked their balances and chewed on his lip.

As Matt and Liz, they had one hundred and seventeen points, while Quill and Torch had two hundred and seventy two.

That put the masked identities in the middle of the top one hundred, but they were paupers when compared to the teams with double their points. Despite ranking well in the rift challenges, and hunting down monsters with point rewards, they were forced to waste a number of points that Kurt and Luna had earned them to keep things as fair as possible. Not to mention the need to protect their dual identities.

If they had been able to concentrate all their efforts on one identity, they would have easily taken a spot in the top five, but they needed to avoid anything that could connect their personas.

As the points were public record, they couldn’t even use the fact that the bids were anonymous to merge their points and buy something really nice, since so few people had three hundred points to spend.

The only good thing Matt found was the fact that everyone's point totals weren’t being publicly updated in real-time, and would only reflect the changes after the auction ended. If they didn’t have such a measure, the anonymity of the auction would have been useless.

Matt’s attention wavered as the crafted items raced by, until a bracelet that increased the wearer's balance and firmed their footing came to the stage.

He could do something similar with his Concept, but having an item that did it for him was always useful, especially when he needed his Concept for something else. He put an initial bid of thirteen points in with his AI, but his bid never even showed up on the screen as the cost skyrocketed to forty points, before stalling and being sold for the same price.

Liz ended up buying a rift drop ring that would slowly purge low Tier toxins from the wearer for the low cost of twenty five points. The only reason the ring was so cheap was that it could only ever purge the first toxin it encountered; the ring would never affect any subsequent substance.

Still, it was a useful addition to her potion skills, if for whatever reason her blood alchemy wasn’t an option.

Matt tried to bid on a few more items, but knew better than to push too hard for any item that made the stage this early. A shield that reflected a portion of elemental magical damage was useful, but not worth the seventy points it was finally was sold for. The same could be said for the compass that pointed to the nearest vein of ore. It was useful for gathering resources in a rift, but the final selling price of thirty eight points was far more than what he valued it at.

When Willow began to introduce a helmet, Matt sat up straighter. Liz mirrored the action next to him.

“This helmet is a wondrous items made by our crafters. It has the standard defensive enchantments, but also allows the user to see into the ultraviolet and infrared spectrum's of light. Even more impressively, it also allows the wearer to see into the mana spectrum with at will.”

That last ability was rare, and beyond useful for crafters and fighters alike. While casting a spell took place in the spirit, the effects took place in reality, and in a hectic battle, it was entirely possible to miss a subtle casting or a manipulation skill with ones spiritual perception.

Crafters wanted the helmet because it would allow them to see the mana flows they were working with, and not have to rely on those same spiritual senses for their work.

As it was a crafter made item, the two of them could share the helmet if needed, while Matt might also be able to crack whatever obscuring runes were used to enchant it. Leaning how they had created the mana sight effect would be a boon beyond measure.

“Seventy points?” Matt asked Liz for what she thought their highest bid should be.

Liz didn’t answer right away, and the bidding ] quickly jumped to fifty two points before pausing.

“Eighty from our real identity is as far as we should push.” The second Liz said that he sent an offer of fifty-five.

His bid only remained on the screen for a second before it was replaced by a fifty-seven.

This time, Liz was faster on the uptake, and the number jumped to sixty-three.

They grabbed each other's hands while the bid stayed steady and the timer started to tick down.

When it reached two, the bid jumped up to seventy in a few lightning quick flashes of the screen.

Seeing there was now a third bidder, Matt sat back and contemplated whether the item was quite worth the extra ten points Liz wanted to spend. But his partner leaned forward, all the more eager to try and get the helmet.

“Come on. Come on, don't bid. Don’t bid. Don’t bid. Just let mama have this. Don’t bid.”

When the bid reached eighty, Liz huffed and leaned back in frustration at being once again one-upped. This time, she went over their firm limit, and the point total didn’t move for a long count. After what seemed like an eternity, the countdown timer started ticking down.

They clumsily grabbed at each other as the countdown reached three, and when it hit two, they were out of their seats. When it hit one, Matt started to cheer when the bid flickered to eighty-one, and the excitement came crashing down.

“Oooh fuuuck you, you fucking fucks. I will track you down and turn you inside fucking out. I have the fucking power to.” Liz gave the screen the middle finger as she flopped into her seat.

Matt gnashed his teeth, but said nothing.

The other party clearly wanted the item, and was willing to pay an exorbitant price. One they were unable and unwilling to match.

The two of them spent an irritable few minutes clearing a charcuterie board before a familiar smokey chest plate appeared on the screen. He was glad that they’d put the item up for sale, and that the auction considered it one of the more interesting entries chosen from the combat Pathers.

Hearing Willow introduce their item, Matt rubbed his hands together. The only thing better than buying new items was seeing yours get sold.

When the initial bid was set at thirty-five points, Matt started slapping Liz’s shoulder in excitement. Together, they watched the price rocket to seventy before what seemed like three teams got into a bidding war. Eventually, the competing trio drove the price up to one-hundred-and-four points.

Seeing the final number, Matt hopped to his feet and started to give an exaggerated fist pump and hip thrust, causing Liz to giggle.

Mara and Leon were dopes, but they were amusing dopes. Matt had learned a few things in the time he spent with them.

After they settled down, now flush with points, they excitedly watched more items flash by.

The later they went into the auction, the more impressive the items brought up to the stage became.

Matt whistled when a crafter made healing potion was brought out, rated to be near official healer levels of quality.

Liz just sighed. “Wish I could make a potion that good. And it's a Tier 13 potion. The alchemists who made this must be monsters to do that at Tier 10.”

The item that followed was a tiny key that looked as if it would only open a locket, but Willow treated it with reverence.

“Monarch Harper's item is the first of the Royals’ items up for grabs. This key doesn't come with a lock, so you must go and find its other half. But heed the warning that comes with it. ‘This key may only be used once, and there can be more than one answer to a riddle.’ Take their words to heart if you wish to gather the items they have hidden.”

The bidding started at fifty points and in seconds reached a new highest cost, going for one-hundred-and-twenty-seven points.

Matt wondered what person or group would be crazy enough to attempt Harper's challenge, but wished them luck. They were going to need it if his initial impressions about the Royal were correct.

A pair of fist wraps from Rusty, which increased punching damage and reduced damage taken when striking, sold for a much more reasonable sixty points.

Frederic auctioned off an orb that would allow someone to randomize the rift distortion reward, as long as they hadn't dispelled the reward distortion already.

Matt found it interesting, but not super valuable to them.

Without a Talent to see rift rewards, you might end up removing a valuable reward without knowing it.

Mara put up a collar that could shrink the beast wearing it to a more reasonable size for the bigger beast bonds. Meanwhile, Leon sold a Tier 17 storm crystal. It was an item that could help someone convert their own mana to storm mana, so ensuing the fervor was understandable, and the final price was a sky high sum of two-hundred-and-thirty points.

Finally, an item they couldn’t pass up appeared in the form of a cloak made from a very familiar wyvern leather. The item absorbed any hostile fire attacks, and could launch a burst outwards with the stored energy in a massive area attack.

Torch had to have it. By spending one-hundred-and-eighty points, they got it for her.

When it was delivered, seconds after their successful bid, Matt inspected the craftsmanship that went into making the magical item. At least, he looked at everything that wasn’t covered in obscurement runes. He spent a few minutes trying to crack the formations, but gave up to pay attention to the auction.

The next items were interesting, but nothing Matt or Liz wanted. There was a gauntlet with a bone breaking effect, a dagger with massive armor penetration properties and a poison elemental effect, and a [Cracked Withering Touch] that channeled the effect though the user’s teeth and tongue instead of their fingers and palms. A necklace that slowly absorbed ambient mana and converted it to the wearer's mana type, came soon after. That last item was a rift dropped item which meant Matt had to give up any hope of replicating, but it still sold for a staggering price.

There were also some odd items, like a pair of boots that drew in any liquids that the wearer stepped in, or the conical hat that didn’t block sunlight or moonlight. Both were crafter made, then started and sold for staggering amounts, but Matt assumed they were custom designed to get specific Pathers or teams. Still, they were odd items that he didn't expect to see.

When the action was winding down, Willow stepped forward and ended the auction with the item from Tur'stal herself.

Everyone leaned forward as a small, covered orb floated next to the auctioneer.

“This is a special treat from Queen Tur'stal, and the one lucky enough to purchase this item will be blessed with good fortune.”

With a furious swipe of her hand, she removed the covering to show a single rose suspended in the glass container.

“This gorgeous bloom is a Fated Heart Rose. For the one who absorbs it, it will replace them if they were to ever take lethal damage up to its Tier. This beauty may only be Tier 19, and will only be effective until then, but it’s still a free life.”

Willow sighed, and with a flick of a finger, the starting bid of two hundred points appeared.

Matt whistled as he saw it was outside of his price range, and looked to Liz to ask, “Do you think she grew that with her Talent? Or is that a natural treasure that can’t be cultivated?”

Liz shrugged, but never took her eyes off the prize. “I don’t know, but damn, I’m jealous. Even from here, I feel like that works with blood in some special way. At least, my blood is craving for that rose like a moth to a flame.”

Matt was about to say more when as soon as the rose sold for a staggering seven hundred and eighty points, a soft cough echoed through the room, and Tur'stal herself appeared on the stage next to Willow.

“Thank you for the exciting auctioneering, Lady Willow. It's always such a pleasure to watch you work.”

As Tur'stal looked at the woman, vines and leaves appeared on the woman's flesh like tattoos, and Matt finally understood the name.

Willow Morningsong was obviously one of the rare natural items that had reached Tier 15 with enough awareness to take human form.

He had only read of that in stories, but seeing it in the flesh, and seeing the woman's reaction to Tur'stal made everything clear.

As the Royal caressed the vine that traveled up Willow's arm, it bloomed to life. Willow seemed as if she had just been given the strongest aphrodisiac before she controlled her expression and bowed to Tur'stal, then vanished.

Tur'stal seemed unruffled as she turned to the crowd and smiled. “And thus, the end of the first half of the tournament has arrived, ushering in the second half of our time together.”

The Royal smirked and gestured off to the side. “And who better to introduce the solo and team competitions than the rising stars themselves, Light and Shadow?”

Matt and Liz shot to their feet as two masked individuals that everyone recognized stepped into existence next to Tur'stal.

Light and Shadow.

Light's larger frame and wide array of weapons, not even stored in a spatial ring, spoke of his melee prowess. Comparatively, Shadow arrived like a dark piece of fog that slowly solidified into a human shape, until the shorter figure joined Light.

Tur'stal’s next words caused enough of a commotion to overcome the soundproofing that had gone into the auction houses construction.

“They will be acting as guest judges for all of you, and will take off a week after the tournament to assist Lila in doing a touch more hands on training for the top ten teams in the team ranking. There will be a similar offer for anyone's team who ranks in the top ten in the solo fights. Good luck, and tomorrow, may you take everything you have accomplished in these last few months and show the Empire your strength… Better yet, show the entire Realm just what you can do.”