The Path of Ascension

Chapter 273

Aster closed her eyes and breathed in and out, pulsing the storm around her with her meditation. Frigid winds whipped around her, an icy hurricane blanketing the polar cap of the world. Her reach extended even further than that, blanketing half the planet in a spontaneous winter, in blatant defiance of the normal seasons and still-cooling magma in some corners of the new planet.

It was pure vanity, but she had felt the need to really flex her powers, and in exchange for some light assistance with terraforming, the local marquis had given her access to a newly-added and uninhabited Tier 1 world.

With no humans or animals present, shed been able to truly let loose.

Shed started small, stirring up a small storm with nothing but her bloodline. From there, shed flexed her mana and spirit to sweep ice through the planet. First, she only did so at night, and then as the climate shifted to her will, she expanded into the daytime hours. She pushed her influence from just the ice cap, to the polar circle, and eventually to the snow-brushed continental peaks.

Then she pushed even harder, and the storm crept down to the sixty-degree latitude, creating winds and snow so thick it made the area seem like nighttime.

Harder.

The forty five degree latitude.

Harder.

The thirty-degree latitude that rarely saw snow became utterly whited out.

Harder.

HARDER.

Now, she had reached half the planet, and was nowhere close to her limits. She kept pushing, overriding the natural weather patterns with her own will, but not extending her range any further. She could even feel the ways in which she could permanently change the weather, freezing the entire planet and turning it into a winter wonderland.

She could make her kingdom here and now, a world of snow and ice, but part of being a ruler was knowing restraint. This wasnt the right time, but she had proven that she could, and her tiara whispered its approval to her.

Shed encountered more trouble than anticipated when trying to claim her Anchor. It kept saying that it wasnt ready, despite being the final portion of her Intent, but she had eventually teased out a fairly simple truth from her failures. She was not the Princess of winter, she was its first Queen.

She had no queendom to inherit, for that had been left in Minkalla. She would make her own queendom of ice through her own efforts, and her tiara was the promise that she would rule it justly and rightly.

But unfortunately, that revelation hadn't worked with her original phrase of Deep Winter of the Frozen North. That had been too entangled with the idea that her queendom would be in the north, as something ready for her to simply claim. So, shed had to break that portion of her Intent before she could claim her Anchor, leaving her once again two-thirds of the way done with her Intent.

But, after a few minor failures, she was ready for her final step. She was the queen of the world, and her Intent was its Crown.

Her eyes opened, and around her she saw not her physical surroundings, but her Image. It was a barren wasteland, yes, with the stars far above blanketed by a glimmering aurora. But it was not an apocalypse, it was a canvas. It was her future queendom, full of potential yet not actualized yet.

With a pulse of her magic, she pushed past the equator and into the planets northern hemisphere.

She liked her new Intent. It was no frozen queendom she would inherit, but it was whatever she could build and hold herself, and that meant she didnt need to limit herself to just the north.

Just like in her image, her entire Intent was merely beginning. In time, her dominion would contain palaces and cities, roads and citizens. It would stretch to the glimmering aurora and perhaps even beyond. The stars themselves were within her grasp, for an eternal winter of her own making.

She already planned to change her bloodline to Aurora, and this would help her grasp that. Yes, her Concept would still crack, but by imbuing the idea of building and expanding her kingdom into the very core of her Intent, it would be almost trivial for her to adjust the rest of her Domain to match. And as her Intent grew, so too might her Image. Her dream of one day making Space Ice was a distant memory, but those naive hopes of a child still rang true in her spirit.

Frozen.

Her Intent was Frozen, yet growing. Like an icicle capturing water, like snow banks piling up, it would only ever increase, for she would never allow it to thaw. Skyscrapers of ice, stretching into the sky, frozen rivers for roads spanning her entire domain, she had taken the tides of fortune and called them to task, halting them when they would be the most favorable to her.

Crown.

Her Intent was her Crown, the mark of her royalty yet also her grandest treasure. The stars might shine, but the most brilliant jewel in her queendom would always be upon her brow. Equally, she was the crown of her dominion, and her Intent was to ensure that stayed just as true in a millennium as it did right now. She should be the pinnacle, not just in strength and fluffiness, but in nobility and justice, in wisdom and temperance. A ruler was not simply mere muscle, but an example to their people, the crown of all they oversaw.

Of.

As an intermediary word, claiming ownership of it was both easy and difficult. It was easy to claim it, but it was hard to keep the word from slipping away like wet ice.

The.

Same as the last, Aster quickly claimed it and moved on to the next word while making sure to keep everything stable.

World.

Her Domain would echo across the entire World. Ironically, that was perhaps the most limiting part of her phrase, but she had long since resolved herself to viewing however many planets she may grow to oversee as all being part of her world. They would be her people, and it would be her duty to corral it and present a singular vision, a singular goal to all those in her world. Be it wintry or filled with the brilliant colors of the aurora, it would be hers and she would be its.

She was the Frozen Crown of the World.

The storm around her stilled for the briefest of moments, then raged harder and harder. In its wake were left brilliant ice sculptures, windblown and sparkling in the light like spires and gems. Her Intent pulsed, washing over the entire world, and a crystal clarity descended upon her.

Even as the moment passed, the feeling did not fully subside. She felt more real. Like she was truly a part of the Realm in a way she had never experienced before. Even in a Tier 24 system, she felt like the world was hers to command.

With a thought, she commanded the storm she had created to halt, and every mote of snow froze, whether it was still mid-air or on the ground. With another thought, she commanded the snow to return to its normal movement, and it continued on as if the last few seconds hadnt happened.

Laughing, she spun in the snow, arms extended.

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She felt a ripple of space a moment before Kurt brought Liz and Matt to her.

The trainer gave her a wide, silent smile paired with a thumbs-up.

Her smile, on the other hand, seemed frozen to her face as she hugged Matt and Liz together.

Her voice definitely didnt crack as she said, Im so excited! I kept feeling like something would go wrong, but everything just clicked into place!

She felt Matts genuine happiness for her flow into her from both their bond and his hug, and she reveled in that feeling. Lizs feelings had to come through more mundane channels, but Aster still fully felt them through her own hug, and knew Liz was just as happy for her as Matt was.

Even the thought was slightly shocking, but Aster had done it.

Created her Intent at Tier 22.

Even in the larger Empire, that made her one of the few and rare who managed the feat before reaching the peak of Tier 24.

She had gone from the tagalong who had been content to rest in her bonds backpack to a fully independent member of the team who could pull her own weight. She was a support, but anyone who said supports werent important had never fought a team with a debuff mage like her.

Flexing her Intent, she smiled as she lifted Matt and Liz off the ground.

Her willpower melted away like ice in a bonfire, more draining than her Concept had ever been, but she had strength to spare. With a mere thought, she sent them racing into the atmosphere. And in a system where the primary planet was a Tier 24, that wasnt an easy feat.

Letting momentum carry them up a little higher, Aster pouted a little at Matt, who rolled his eyes as he pulled out his flying sword and flew them over to where Lunas house sat in orbit.

The grumpy cat sat at the edge of the front lawn, staring at her without blinking, but Aster knew that the older bond did it because she was worried for her.

Waving, she thanked her manager who just licked a paw, turning back to the planet under them.

Aster checked the planet and sighed, as only half of it was frozen. It would be incredibly embarrassing if she had set off a cascading effect despite keeping her Intent in check. But no, there was nothing wrong.

Seeing no reaction from the cat she chalked it up to Luna being Luna and so Aster sauntered inside to enjoy the air that rushed into her lungs.

I did it!

Sticking her hand up for April to return her high five, she wagged her tail a little. She was just too happy to contain it.

Let's have a party!

***

Liz smiled as she and Matt lay together, thoroughly satiated.

As she let her fingers play with his muscles like they were piano keys, Liz let her mind wander.

Aster had created her Intent, and all of them had Tiered up to Tier 23, but she hadnt made more than the first step.

Oh, she had ideas, but she hadnt been able to make the Phrase Blood is Life work for her yet. It was still missing something, but what that something was, she had no idea.

Matts hand ran down her spine and towards her rear, and she was gauging if she was ready for a round five when he simply caressed her flank. Good, she didnt want to have to use a healing spell to get rid of the soreness, it ruined the afterglow she enjoyed so much.

Blowing a strand of hair out of her face, Liz gave into temptation and bit her husband and laughed as he flinched.

She bit a little harder, hard enough to draw blood, and let the taste of Matts blood fill her senses.

It had only taken a drop, but she always learned so much from it.

Sharing blood had become a common occurrence, with Matt being able to heal so fast, which made him the perfect tap for her research.

Shed gotten somewhat used to the taste of his blood, which made her acutely aware of the fact it suddenly tasted different. It was faint, to be sure, but she was Tier 23, and could tell what hed eaten a week ago just from the residual traces it left in his blood.

It was tingly.

Going in for another bite, she reopened the wound and let her tongue get covered in his blood, rolling the liquid over her senses.

Tingly wasnt quite the right word for it. It was almost like salt, where the new flavor enhanced the sensation of everything else, deepening it in a wholly new direction. The complex blend of enzymes, hormones, and metals stood out in a way they just never had before, lingering in a way that almost felt like a culinary echo.

Going in for a third bite, Matt caught her head and pulled her up. Ok, one is sexy, two is odd, three is concerning. Spill.

As if feeling the need to lighten his words, he used his thumb to pry her upper lip open and inspected her incisors.

She nipped at the offending digit, but he was too fast and pulled back.

Deciding she really should explain, she told him what she had found. Your blood is weird. And I was trying to isolate the reason why. Your blood tastes like She let her words trail off as she tried to figure out the actual words she wanted to use. I guess it tastes like you? Or your mana. Endless. Did you have a breakthrough in your Intent recently?

Going in for the third bite even as he said he hadnt made any progress, she took a deeper draw and let the flavors run over her tongue.

It took her a few moments, but eventually, she realized why his blood was so active. Yeah, your blood is really high in mana, but it doesnt taste like mana. Normally, your blood will passively transmute any mana into it, reshaping it into blood mana or air mana or water mana as needed, but this is staying neutral. Kind of like your mana has been dissolved into your bloodstream, she mulled over her discovery, idly wondering how it might impact some of her skill-less mana. Also, whether she could precipitate the mana out of his blood, maybe collecting it into a buffer. There was a lot of power there, but she wasnt really sure what that meant.

Matt pursed his lips as he pondered everything he did, but she felt it as he tensed a little. In a questioning tone, he asked, Maybe its the Tier-up? Its not impossible that my spirit is doing something in preparation for my Tier 25 talent, you know.

Hmmm, she mused, playfully snapping at his earlobe. Pre-manifestation Talent symptoms have never been proven, you know.

He just shrugged, but Liz was silently thrilled. It was generally accepted that it was at least loosely possible to influence the Tier 25 Talent through actions, and sometimes some physical symptoms reminiscent of an eventual Talent began showing up as early as Tier 20. As often as not, though, they were completely unrelated to whatever the Talent eventually ended up being. Sometimes they were Intent-related, sometimes the byproduct of a natural treasure or a mana subaspect, a bloodline, or even just the spirit being weird.

But none of that mattered to her. The simple chance that her husband's Talent might be even slightly related to his blood made her melt. The idea that Matts spirit might actually reflect his relationship with her got her engine running hot, and she threw a leg over him.

They could talk later, but for now, she needed him.

Quickly, she realized that wasnt enough, and summoned a [Lesser Blood Clone].

Then a second.

And a third.

Almost a full day later, they crawled out of bed and went to do their own explorations.

Tasting Matts blood had given her some ideas about her own Image.

Her Phrase and Image were both giving her trouble. It wasnt so much that she was lacking ideas as much as she was outright overflowing with them. They had to be blood-related, obviously, but that still left a nigh-infinite number of ways that she could interpret blood, each of which having influence on who she would be in the future.

Shed surpassed her biological needs long ago, but the higher-Tier she got, the more shed be bound by her spiritual needs. Her Domain would nudge her to act in certain ways, or to avoid acting in others. It was just as possible to overcome as any other urge, but denying it long-term could lead to all sorts of problems, be they spiritual, mental, magical, even physical.

While she still wasnt entirely certain what would suit her best, her utterly wonderful husband had given her a few ideas, and an itch in the back of her mind demanded she give it some time. With barely a blink, she stepped into and sank into her cauldron of blood.

Her cauldron was, in truth, a massive holding tank utterly filled with her own blood, and when submerged, it was hard to tell where she ended and the blood began. But that was the beauty of blood; it was her, and she was it.

It was her life, it was the death of her enemies, it flowed and coiled like water. It was made of platelets, red blood cells, plasma, essence, white blood cells, mana, and more. It was the cornerstone of her biological existence, and most of her magic as well. But it went deeper than that. Even when she filtered out all of the physical stuff that made up her blood, separating it into its component liquids, solids, and energies, they were all still recognizably blood. Mana left its mark, essence all the more, and there wasnt truly a point at which it ceased being blood and began being simple, dumb matter. Even a molecule of water, an atom of oxygen, they were still undeniably blood, so long as that was where it had come from.

Her Anchor ensured that the physical side of blood was well represented in her Intent, but there was just more to it than just that.

She felt herself open up to her Anchor, the sheer physicality of blood making itself known foremost, interlaced with the mana and essence that made it hers. Shed done well with just that, treating it as simple red water, but as she well knew it wasnt enough. Her Concept pushed that blood was Rebirth, and she still liked that ideal. Blood as Life, not as death. Not as disease, as sacrifices, as filth and decay. To her, Blood was life.

She focused on the things that made up blood. The red blood cells, white blood cells, plasma, and platelets. She pictured the oxygen, carbon dioxide, nutrients, hormones, and waste chemicals that were carried around by blood. It was the metals a body needed: iron, copper, and zinc. It was the magic in one's body. The mana that naturally ran through one's veins after someone was awakened. It was the essence that flowed through one's veins after Tier 15, when a cultivator's essence core created enough essence through natural replication to fuel their now superhuman body.

Blood was everything.

A part of her still wanted to zoom out on the Image and make it blood, but she knew trying to encapsulate the entirety of the element was not only a fools errand, it also didnt suit her. She very intentionally wasnt trying to be the sort of blood mage who slowly flayed people alive for fun, or the kind who would unleash devastating plagues upon the helpless populace, or who would kill millions of civilians in a massive sacrificial ritual to empower her.

She was a warrior and an alchemist. Her blood was her weapon of choice, the medium she worked in, and she would be honorable in that sense. Her kills would be enemy soldiers, her magic would be worked to save those she was responsible for.

With Matts mana infusing his blood, it had sparked a faint something in the back of her mind, and she felt like she was really on to something. But it required more thought.

Blood dripped off of her as she exited her cauldron, coalescing into a [Lesser Blood Clone]. Another exited from the cauldron behind her, and a third materialized from thin air. Since shed claimed her blood as her Anchor, and gotten the ability to manifest or de-manifest it at will, she had officially transcended the need for any cuts or devices to help her get blood outside of her body. She still needed to practice some, and the amount of blood she had available to her was still limited, but it was a nice perk.

She pulled on basic clothes and sat back, reclining against the air itself as her three clones did the same. Decades of practice had paid off, as each clone acted similarly but not identically.

The real her kicked off the discussion, looking to the clone on the right, So, what do you think?

Right shrugged, tucking her legs under her body. We really should just keep going with the generalist standpoint. Were Ascenders, we can handle a broad Intent, and its not like a blood plague would never be useful.

Center cut off Right, But thats also not the kind of mage we want to be. Besides, we still need to nail down two full portions of the Intent, and we are not backtracking into something thats just Blood as the phrase. We are also absolutely not making our Anchor be blood, our Phrase just Blood, and our Image as all blood everywhere. I hold myself to a higher standard than that.

Lizs clones werent actually intelligent, and even getting them to just speak was already something of an accomplishment, but shed gotten into the habit of talking to herself like this at some point without even realizing it. Even if the three were ultimately just puppets of her, making them be different people helped. Made talking to herself seem less pathetic, somehow. Helped keep her ideas straight.

Left blew a strand of blood-hair out of her face, Agreed. Look, are we really needed here? We already know that we dont want to try and encompass everything that blood could be. Our Anchor is specifically our blood, and we can make the Phrase about our combat, the Image about our alchemy, focus in on how we use blood for each of those, and it becomes about our relationship with blood. Itll even keep fire in scope! I know we havent given up on that yet, and if we emphasize the essence connection, that gives us room to expand back into fire with a core part of our Domain. We know we want it. Heck, we can brute-force it if needed. Wed get there eventually.

Liz shook her head. That's an awful idea. We failed enough times making our Anchor, and we don't need to spend more time in the hospital.

None of them said they didnt want to fail as badly as Matt had done but they all thought it. Ones Domain represented themselves and their connection to the realm itself, but when their Intents manifestation was their own blood, things could become very dangerous if they took serious Domain damage. If she failed in making her Phrase or Image like Matt had, her very blood could fall apart, and she might not recover. Just because it was possible to recover a Claimed Anchor while a Domain shattered, didnt mean it was easy.

At least, that was the worst-case scenario, and she didnt want to force a revival if she could avoid it. While the body would be physically healed, her Domain damage wouldnt get any better, and so shed still be out of the fight.

Left raised a finger, Look, we could sit here all year if we let ourselves, and I dont think that would really help us. If we want our Intent to be anything close to comprehensive, we really should be working on immersing ourselves less in the liquid, and more in our use of it. Especially if we want to start thinking about blood as a conduit

Liz sighed. She wasnt wrong, probably. Sitting around wouldnt help her, and after a couple of half-hearted rebuttals from Center and Right, she changed into her alchemy gear and headed to the workshop. If she couldn't be productive at her Intent, she could make potions.

She had been toying with the idea of a mind-clearing potion based on ice mana that might synergize with Aster better. The formula she had bought had been based around burning away stray thoughts with fire mana, which meant Aster would get little effect at best, and at worst a major headache.

Even if it was the former, Aster would complain endlessly about the potion, and Liz didnt want to give her any ammo.

What if we try Agathas Gaze instead of Blaze Dust?

That might work, but we would need to change Freyas Fingers out as well due to the reaction between the two, and there isn't an easy substitute to help catalyze the reagents if we aren't using Freyas Fingers.

I thi

***

Luna watched from the corner of the room not blinking until Liz started working on her potion making and it was clear she wasnt going to work on her Intent any more.

Jumping up to the ceiling, Luna curled up and waited, ready to intervene in case the girl got any bright ideas.

***

Matt slowly moved through a slash with his sword, the Heart of the Black Hole sitting on the edge of his blade.

He had spent so much time grinding away at the core of the black hole that it had become a familiar feeling, despite fighting his white hole Image. It was like a sore tooth that had been with him for so long that the ache of the pain had become more familiar than the lack of pain.

With his black hole Image mostly stable or at least actualized, he was sure that if he lost concentration over his Intent for even a moment it would violently react with his Concept and tear itself apart, he needed to move on to his Anchor.

Having an Anchor that matched the Image wasnt in any way necessary, but it was something that could multiply the power of an Intent. It could also have no appreciable effect, but Matt had a good feeling about the Heart of the Black Hole.

Minkalla had presented it to him so many decades ago, and he had overcome its challenge through his and Aster's own efforts.

He had earned the cultivation core of his Concepts enemy through sheer force of will and determination.

He was Endless.

He would not give up, and had proven that a dozen times over.

Claiming the defeated core of a black hole as his Anchor just seemed so right.

The issue was, it was so damn hard that he wasnt sure how to actually do it.

He had already asked Liz and Aster about their own Anchors, but their experiences hadnt been even remotely similar to what he was going through.

Mirror parts of a Domain were all together another beast, and he was learning that the hard way. All Lunas, Kurts, Aprils, and the trainer's lessons came back to him but meant very little. He didn't know if he was weaker than the others who made a mirror Intent to their Concept or if his Domain was just that much larger in scope, but their descriptions of their struggles felt like the tip of the iceberg when compared to what he was dealing with.

They talked about rejection and repulsion, but few had mentioned the explosive anger he had to deal with. His Concept was at all times trying to rip and tear at his Image, and if he let that happen for even a moment, he had to spend days repairing the damage. His Images hated each other. They were like rabid animals who only knew how to attack, and did so the moment the trainer turned their back.

He figured that if he could claim his Anchor, he could equal the playing field a little, but the Heart of the Black Hole was stubborn.

When Matt sent his willpower into it, he felt like he was simply throwing away his power into a black hole. It disappeared and vanished, his connection to it breaking as it was stretched out as it neared the center of the black hole.

But that was fine.

Matt was patient.

After all, he was Endless.

If his black hole Anchor wanted to eat, he would give it an all-you-can-eat buffet. He poured mana and willpower into the core like he would never run out, despite having only so much willpower left over with weeks and months of delving Tier 25 rifts.

Wanting to build a connection with the Heart of the Black Hole, he had started carrying it everywhere with him and just generally playing with it.

He and Aster had even created a game of tossing the core back and forth while they watched movies. The Heart of the Black Hole wasnt invisible to his spiritual perception, but it, like its namesake, was absorbing light, mana, and essence, which made it nearly invisible to his spiritual perception. If one wasnt careful, they could miss the core with their hands and catch it with their face.

It made for a fun game.

It was with that game that Matt learned all his hard work was good for something. Right before Aster hit him in the face with a sneaky throw, he willed the Heart of the Black Hole to freeze, and it did.

In fact, it froze so much, it tore a hole through their spaceship, and they were forced to pause mid-air in the rift they were flying through.

Nothing they had done to the Heart of the Black Hole had budged it, including all three of them trying to move it, Aster even with her full Intent. Even knocking himself out hadnt freed the Heart of the Black Hole, and they lost two weeks while Matt begged, pleaded, and bargained with the Heart of the Black Hole to move again.

Eventually, he figured it out and was able to free the Heart of the Black Hole, but it had been an interesting experience he wasnt keen on repeating. Which was exactly why he immediately started trying to get the Heart of the Black Hole to freeze again.

Through practice and training with April, Matt had learned that he wasnt just freezing the Heart in space, but in relation to something. That created some very interesting effects that he was still trying to learn how to really abuse. His current favorite was freezing the Heart in relation to the tip of his blade while he practiced his swordsmanship. It wasnt really practical, not like freezing the Heart relative to a monster's attack, and just holding on as the Heart went flying, but it made him feel a real connection to it.

The entire episode had made April scratch her head in confusion, saying she hadnt heard of someone claiming an Anchor like that. But Kurt had explained that he had heard of some swordsmen who didnt create a weapon manifestation, but went through a similar process with a physical weapon they Claimed.

There was just something about dancing with his blade and Anchor that felt right.

He might be Endless, but he was also stubborn, determined.

It might take some time, but he would claim the Heart of the Black Hole.

It was his.

He had earned it through blood, sweat, and tears.

Dancing through a combination, Matt fought imaginary opponents and killed each of them as they came.

His blade thrust, it blocked, it parried, it deflected, it slashed, it lunged, it swept, it riposted.

All while the Heart of the Black Hole sat at the top of his blade like the button on a dueling blade.

Connected to him.

Connected to the Realm.

***

Luna watched from the corner of the room as Matt swung his blade, not blinking. He might not be able to see it, but through her Aspect, she watched as the Heart of the Black Hole pulsed with energy, in rhythm with his own pulse.

Even if this method of claiming an Anchor was usually risk-free, she was ready to intervene at a moment's notice.