Chapter 40

    The area surrounding ground zero was a madhouse. Over the last three months, people had flooded the city in waves. Now, with just three days to go, Matt couldnt believe the crowds.

    Travis and Keiths flying house was on the leading edge of the clear area. From Matts vantage on their balcony, he was looking at a wall of people so thick, the sky was only visible by craning his neck vertically.

    People had filled in the surrounding areas in numbers he had never imagined. Tier 15 immortals took up most of the space. They either hovered around the floating houses like swarms of flies, or took residence in the vast bleachers that had been constructed from mana. Flying devices of every shape and size were on display, each a reflection of their wielders personality.

    There was only a small portion of the surroundings dedicated to those under Tier 15, and those accommodations were much less cramped. But from Matts understanding, they also had amenities that the rest lacked like bathrooms and showers.

    It surprised Matt how many people were willing to wait around for a week or longer, just for the chance at a reality shard. The benefits for advancement from watching the ascension were always going to be the same for everyone there. Whether you were able to physically see the event or not had no real bearing on the outcome.

    The only real difference was the reality shards.

    Each shard was a crystalized moment in time. It would allow those near the shard to experience the same effect as one would if they were present for the moment of ascension. They were incredibly rare, and even more valuable. The volume produced during an ascension was equal to only about half the mass of the ascender.

    On top of the general scarcity, they didnt last for any more than five years before they dissipated on their own.

    It led to everyone in the Empire constantly vying to get their hands on the elusive shards. By custom and law, no one was permitted to fight over the shards. That still didnt stop people from restricting the area near the ascension, and then selling access for enormous sums of mana stones.

    Matt didnt need to see over the crest of the nearest mountain to know that the bleachers, floating homes, and flying swords were just as thick for miles out. Being surrounded by this many people, he felt like he was caught in a locust swarm.

    He looked to Liz, who was lounging next to him, reading a book on her pad. I dont get why people pack themselves in so tight. Wanting to get a reality shard is understandable, but look at the price for a spot even a quarter-mile out. Its going for Tier 13 mana stones. And the price is still rising.

    Liz slowly used a finger to turn her digital page and said, Despite the historical evidence showing no benefit from a closer distance to the ascension, people still think it helps. That, or they just really want to see it.

    Matt shook his head. I dont get it. Its a waste of money. If we werent with Travis, I wouldnt be bothered to come from the other side of the planet.

    Liz shrugged a shoulder distractedly. Easy to say when you have a front-row seat to the event.

    That stung more than Matt liked.

    There was a commotion that brought him out of his meandering thoughts. A wave of murmurs and disgruntled comments passed, as someone moved through the wall of cultivators next to them.

    Aunt Helen popped out wearing a sundress and floppy hat. For all the world, she looked like a young woman out on a stroll. Unlike everyone else, she wasnt using a flying device or a beast form. She was clearly using [Flight]. That was a Tier 38 skill.

    She quickly caught sight of the waving Liz, and came to the front gate. The defensive shielding was put up after someone had landed on their roof. Keiths comment that Phoenixes were jealous birds did not go over well with either of the siblings, but Matt had found it funny.

    Aunt Helen was quickly let in, to the irritation of those flying near them.

    The older Phoenix opened her arms, and pulled both Liz and Matt into a hug. Oh, its so good to see you two. She pushed them back to arms length, carefully inspecting them both, Good. You both look chipper. You two were a little on edge after the training planet. Im glad to see you relaxed. Time off is just as important as pushing hard.

    Travis came out of the front door, and it was his turn to be mulled over. He took it with good graces. Even when the much shorter woman started fussing with his hair, he accepted her criticisms with a smile.

    Keith just picked the woman up and swung her around, to the delighted giggle of the Tier 24. After the appropriate pleasantries were handled, they made their way into the living room. There, Aunt Helen demanded to hear about Travis and Keiths latest adventures.

    It was late into the night when they were finally preparing to eat. Aunt Helen came into the kitchen.

    Matt sputtered, I uhh, can leave if you want to do the cooking. I know Im not very good.

    Oh, hush. Dont put yourself down. Aunt Helen reached out and rubbed his back. We all started at the bottom. Dont feel bad for not having a few million years to practice your craft.

    Her smile was sweet and held only understanding.

    She waved a hand, and a book appeared. This is my cookbook. Physical books are best for cooking, as you can make little notes and things.

    Liz had been watching him cook and poked her head over the shorter Phoenixs shoulder, and looked at the book with Matt.

    Aunt Helen, thats not even Empire standard. They arent even letters or characters. They look like hieroglyphs.

    The older Phoenix flushed red as her feathered hair and swatted at Liz, who was leaning over the womans shoulder.

    I pulled out the wrong one.

    Liz wrapped the woman up in a hug from behind and cooed, Aunt Helen. You are sooooo old!

    Elizabeth, get out of my kitchen.

    Matt tried not to laugh and bring attention to himself. He couldnt really believe that the woman was so old, she predated the current written language system. Or even the character-based languages that some of the other powers used.

    Liz kept her arms wrapped around the shorter woman and laughed. This is Travis kitchen. Hahaha. You have no power here!

    Every kitchen Im in is my kitchen.

    That just made the younger Phoenix laugh harder.

    Then Aunt Helen brought out the big guns. I wont give you even scraps...

    Before she finished, Liz set her down and kissed the womans cheek, running out of the room. Love youuuu.

    Aunt Helen removed a newer cookbook and handed it to Matt. You can have this one.

    He knew it was a bad idea, but had to ask, Is this also written in a forgotten language?

    The wooden spoon left a stinging spot on his rear end.

    Its not forgotten. There was a pause, I still know it.Witness the debut of this chapter, unveiled through N?o?v€l--B1n.

    Aunt Helens glare dared him to test her further.

    Even Matt wasnt that brave.

    Seeing him drop the subject, her smile returned, and she asked, What were you thinking we should make for dinner? What have you all eaten recently?

    Matt told her, and she just nodded in response. She suggested they cook a pasta heavy fare. Truth be told, he was terrified that the more experienced cook would find him wanting and kick him out of the kitchen. But the Phoenix had nothing bad to say.

    She had a suggestion or eight, but they were kind, and never came across as her lording her experience and knowledge over him. Aunt Helen was happy to help him improve, and gave him tips along with every step of the process.

    If my cooking instructor could see me, shed kill to get in my place.

    Matt didnt think he was exaggerating. His instructor had gushed over the woman next to him time and time again, after he casually mentioned Helen. She had specifically said that she would do anything to meet Helen, let alone cook with her.

    I guess it really isnt what you know. Sometimes its who you know.

    In the end, the dinner was better than it had any right to be. They used the materials on hand, but somehow, the Tier 24 made this dish better than any pasta Matt had ever tasted, let alone cooked himself.

    Dinner was mostly spent with Aunt Helen getting revenge on Liz by sharing embarrassing childhood stories. Travis and Keith took pleasure in adding details or telling their own stories.

    Liz ended up eating half the meal herself, in an effort to keep her face down and mouth occupied.

    ***

    It was time. Matt watched the man step onto the platform that was gouged out from the mountainside, three feet below the surface. According to Traviss eye-roll filled explanation, it was the exact place where the Tier 46 had been born. Why he couldnt have done the ascension a few feet higher was lost on Matt, but in the end, he didnt care. It was just the frivolity of the strong.

    Matt was too busy rehashing everything that Travis had gone over with him months ago, when they had first arrived.

    Lizs lesson came to him, and he decided to go out on a limb and try the first thing she told him.

    Ok. Now while in that space, go in and start picturing something endless. It doesnt have to be something real. It can be an idea, like a perpetual motion machine, or one of those twisty river drawings that connect the bottom to the top. But those are just some ideas off the top of my head for endless. For now, think of a spring in the earth pushing out water.

    It doesnt have to be something real.

    Something real.

    ***

    Aster watched the strange man float into the air but snapped at the gnat that landed on her tail.

    She felt the odd feeling of the energy flow into her.

    Liz, Helen, and Travis had warned her about this, so she formed the Concept of Cold in her cores. It only took a moment for the image of frozen stillness to crystallize. It had always been there, so it was childs play for her. She didnt know why her humans made such a big deal out of this.

    Once the moment ended, she stood up, but found all the others still sitting down.

    Then, the moment struck where her cores compacted on their own.

    With the structure of the Concept, nature took over, and her cores shrunk as she broke into Tier 5.

    Aster realized something.

    She was... her.

    There were new thoughts.

    The realization that she was thinking about her thoughts sent a wave through the white fox.

    Her head hurt. With a pounding headache, Aster curled into a ball to sleep it off. She knew so many new things.

    ***

    Liz watched the arrogant ass ascend, and hoped that he found himself in the boonies of the greater realms.

    Dominic was an asshole she wouldnt wish on anyone.

    Pushing the distracting thoughts away, she firmed her will.

    She had one image, but she wanted a better one.

    Liz was blood. She used the flood of energy seeping into the planet to form a new image. She wasnt just an abstract Phoenix coming back through blood.

    No.

    She was Elizabeth Moore. BethBeth to some, Liz to others.

    But in the end, she was Blood.

    Liz forced her image to change. She was reborn through blood. All blood was her, and from any single drop, she could come back.

    Something clicked, and the image slotted into her cores on its own. She was unable to stop or halt the process. And why would she? She could feel that this image was perfect for her.

    The image of her form being cut down, flowing into a splash of blood, and reforming as a Phoenix looped over and over.

    She had done it.

    The Liz in her image even felt linked to her. It would grow with her.

    Concepts with an image containing yourself as the subject focused the power inward, but Liz didnt have that problem. Her blood was indeed an internal power, but she used it outwardly.

    She got the best of both worlds.

    Smiling, Liz opened her eyes. For an instant, they flashed red and she saw.

    Her blood sang to her.

    ***

    Matt spun up the image of a black hole.

    It was easy to manage it, pulling in the power of everything. It was exactly the opposite of what he was. Matt gave mana out in a never-ending stream. He didnt pull it in.

    When the image was as good as he could make it, he inverted it.

    Matt wasnt a black hole.

    Matt was a white hole.

    He didnt absorb energy. He gave it.

    Endlessly.

    The image started out cracked and thin. His connection to the image was shaky at best, and mostly driven by his fascination with stars and space.

    Space spoke to him. It was larger than life, and somehow that was comforting.

    The image of light, heat, and matter spewing out from a cosmic theory. That didnt bother him at all. If it didnt exist, he would create it from nothing.

    Matt was nothing, if not stubborn.

    Slowly the image crystallized. A blinding, endless spout of energy. Matter and light spread to the far reaches of space, and all around the image.

    Even with the energy from the ascension assisting Matt, the image started weak. It was turning from a paper-thin image to one with the strength of an eggshell.

    He began strengthening the image, like a house built from the ground up.

    He was strengthening the foundation brick by brick, layer by layer. The image was filled in and given more depth and substance with each passing moment. Eternities whirled by, but Matt took no notice of them. Time meant nothing to him. He was endless after all.

    Still, something wasnt right.

    With instinct more than knowledge guiding him, Matt changed the output of the image from mundane matter and energy to mana.

    Instantly, the image of a white hole filled in the empty slot in his core. It rushed in like water from a released dam, and turned to the hardest of steel in his spirit.

    Everything locked into place. Like the perfect puzzle piece, the image that he never knew was missing slipped right into place.

    Color, shape, size, and texture all matched perfectly.

    Matt opened his eyes.

    With a flash of blueish-white, he saw.